Yes, yes,” sighed the trees.

  “March straight on to the next crossroad,” ordered the ghost. “There you will see a cross-eyed house. Turn right and keep going until the purple highway runs into a green one. Follow the green one to the Emerald City. Then I’ll give you further orders!”

  All this was delivered in a menacing tone. The trees trembled and obeyed. Though they passed plowed fields that looked inviting, they dared not stop. Sometimes a farmer came out of a purple house and waited to make sure that the forest did not settle on his land. Herds of purple cattle turned their mild eyes to watch the forest move past. The crossroad was several miles distant, and the sun was getting strong. The trees began to get thirsty once more.

  “Water, water,” they began whispering.

  “You’ll get plenty of water at the Emerald City,” promised the ghost. It continued to talk in its most terrifying voice. The trees heard and trembled. In the ghost’s mind a more wicked scheme was forming. It kept mumbling to itself, holding on to its big toe to keep its insides from escaping.

  “Why shouldn’t I make these stupid trees serve me?” it was mumbling. “I’ll use them to get my revenge on those people who cut me with scissors. I’LL CAPTURE THE WHOLE CITY!” The more it thought about this, the better the idea seemed.

  “Sure, I’ll capture the whole kit and kaboodle, and make myself king!” The ghost wriggled with delight at this thought, smirking in a most self-satisfied way.

  “And when I’m king,” it went on to itself, “I’ll make a law that no scissors may be used by anyone but me!”

  The trees spread out over the entire road, making it impossible for anyone to pass in either direction. They were a purple, towering mass that moved down the road like a landslide. Though the peaceful trees did not know it, they looked frightening to children and strangers.

  Suddenly one young tree at the rear plunged leafily into the tree ahead.

  “Something is coming!” it hissed.

  “Woodchoppers?” cried the second tree.

  “Worse than woodchoppers! Something on wheels !” The rumor spread swiftly among the trees. Looking back, they discovered the five pursuing scalawagons. “Run for your lives !” called the old tree.

  The trees began to sway and hobble in a panic. High in its crow’s nest, the ghost was thrashed about like a ship in a storm.

  “Hey, hey, what’s going on down there?” it wheezed. Then it remembered that it must keep its voice terrible, and filling itself with air, it let out in a loud bellow:

  “KEEP MOVING ONWARD!”

  The trees now lost their heads completely. Frightened by the speeding scalawagons behind, and by the terrible voice above, they rushed on, pell-mell. At the crossroads they came to the cross-eyed house. Its eyes were crossed from watching both roads at the same time.

  “what’s the hurry?” complained a small purple bird sitting on a post. The post was marked “peanut Pike.” An arrow pointed to the north, and under the arrow were the words: “To Bottle Hill. Take the Lumbering Gate.”

  The old tree leader took in this sign at a glance, and forgetting the ghost’s directions, turned off toward Bottle Hill.

  “NO, NO, NOT THAT WAY!” roared the ghost The old tree pulled itself up so hard that several limbs snapped off. Then, in bewilderment it went

  limping toward the Emerald City with the whole forest stampeding after it

  “I’m the master, and they’re my slaves!” grunted the ghost. “Soon all the stupid people in the Emerald City will be my slaves, too!”

  Far behind the fleeing forest the five scalawagons were racing. The girls had long since caught sight of the purple mass of moving trees. It was Jenny who cried,

  “Maybe that rubber ghost is hiding among those

  trees!”

  “It certainly looks suspicious, the way they’re run-ing away from us,” said Dorothy.

  “Don’t get too close,” said Betsy. “They may turn and stampede us!”

  “We must wait till they stop,” added Trot “And hope that won’t be too soon. This is real FUN!” The five girls agreed that they were having the time of their lives. For hours their scalawagons had been racing up hill and down dale, over fences and bushes and turnstiles.

  At one turnstile, Jenny had said, “When this adventure is over, I’ll be glad to return to my own turnstyle shop. I’m beginning to miss it.”

  “It must be missing you, too, Jenny,” said Dorothy.

  “Nobody can manage it as well as you. You run it

  like the duchess that you are.”

  Jenny gave Dorothy a pleased smile. “Thank you, Dorothy. Spoken like the princess that you are! But Number Nine’s Sister Six is an able helper. She’s managing the shop during my absence.”

  There was not much chance to talk, for the uneven ground separated the racing cars. Purple rabbits, cats, and groundhogs scurried into their holes for safety. Jenny and Dorothy forgot their dignity as a duchess and a princess and squealed in delight like Betsy, Trot, and Jellia.

  “Cake’s sakes! Wouldn’t Ozma like to be here!” cried Jellia.

  “I certainly would!” exclaimed the Queen, standing before her magic picture in the Emerald City.

  Ozma and the Wizard had been sitting before picture since early morning. As Ozma watched the chase, she often got so excited that she burst out with a spoken remark. Now she jumped to her feet and cried, “Shall I help you find that mean little ghost?’ The Wizard put a restraining hand on the queen’s shoulder. “Sit down, please, and calm yourself.”

  Ozma sat down with a bashful smile. “I was forgetting,” she said, “that I told the girls they could do it all by themselves. The picture is so real, I seem to

  be with them.”

  “I know the temptation, your Majesty,” said the Wizard kindly. “It’s so easy for you to remove that ghost with a little simple magic. But the girls would feel cheated.”

  “What do you suppose that ghost really is?” said Ozma. “I can’t find it in my library records.”

  “We’ll get its secret just as soon as it’s captured,” said the Wizard. “Meanwhile, I am enjoying this moving picture. Aren’t you?”

  “As long as no one is in real danger,” said Ozma.

  “Look, the forest is coming into the frame. It’s getting closer!” said the Wizard.

  Ozma bent forward, studying the picture intently.

  “It won’t do,” she murmured. “We can’t have a purple forest in our green city. The color doesn’t fit.”

  “They ought to know better,” said the Wizard.

  “They wouldn’t be coming here if they didn’t mean some foul play.”

  “It can’t be the trees that are foul,” said Ozma, shaking her head. “It’s that rubber ghost hidden in that nest. It’s up to no good!”

  “What do you propose to do about it?” asked the

  Wizard.

  Ozma’s reply was drowned in the sudden loud clanging of warning bells.

  “Listen!” cried the Wizard. “Our bellmen are warning us that danger is heading this way!”

  CHAPTER 22

  The Forest Surrenders

  THE clanging of the warning bells was heard outside the city gate. The moving forest heard it, and stopping, began to whimper with terror.

  “STOP BLUBBERING! GET FIERCE!” bellowed

  the ghost.

  “Fierce? How could we be fierce? We’re gentle by nature,” said the old tree.

  “Then change your nature,” commanded the pitiless ghost. It felt more desperate than ever, now that its goal was in sight. The towers of the Emerald City sparkled in the sunlight. The sight made the ghost green with envy. If it could become king of all that! The trees stopped, looked back. But that way was cut off by the five dashing scalawagons.

  “Trapped !” sighed the oldest tree.

  “Trapped!” the ghost gnashed its rubber gums together. “If I come down now, they’ll get me. There’s no way but to go on.”

  The ghost was too cowardly to come down and lead the trees. It remained safely within its nest and called down commands.

  “Capture the Guardian of the Gate! Capture the Soldier with the Green Whiskers!”

  The trees trembled, but they crept forward to obey.

  As soon as the warning bells had begun ringing, the Guardian had fastened the gate. But the trees marched up to the wall and looked over. From out of the topmost branches came the loud voice of the ghost:

  “OPEN THE GATE!”

  The old Guardian shouted back, “I’ll do nothing of the kind. Go back where you belong!” The Soldier with the Green whiskers raised a popgun and began to fire popcorn as fast as he could.

  “Retreat or surrender!” cried the Soldier. His long green whiskers stood out in three separate parts. His old coat-tails flapped behind him.

  “GET THEM!” ordered the Voice.

  The trees just stood and shook. The popcorn rolled off them. Their leaves began to shed. They shook so hard that the ghost’s next command rattled:

  “FETCH THOSE TWO OLD NODDYHAMMERS!”

  “Those are fightin’ words!” sputtered the Soldier with the Green Whiskers. He said no more, for just

  then the old tree reached its two longest branches over the wall and wrapped them around the Soldier. Lifting him high, the tree placed the Soldier outside the wall. Then it reached down and picked up the Guardian.

  “TURN THE OZZARD UPSIDE DOWN AND SHAKE HIM!” ordered the ghost.

  The old tree did as it was bidden. When the Guardian was upside down, the keys fell out of his pocket. Another tree quickly covered the keys with its roots.

  “My keys!” begged the Guardian. “Give me my

  keys!”

  “You may have your keys if you promise to open the gate,” answered the ghost.

  “I’ll open the gate if you promise not to enter until I’ve told Ozma of your arrival,” said the Guardian. The ghost burst into a disagreeable laugh. “Hoz! Do you think we’ve come as guests? Not at all. We’ve come to capture the city!”

  Hearing this, the Soldier with the Green Whiskers came closer.

  “You can’t do that!” he shouted. “It’s against the

  law!”

  “What’s that to a desperate outlaw like me?”

  boasted the ghost. “Open the gate at once!”

  “Come down and open it yourself,” said the Guardian.

  This the ghost would not do. For it knew that when the trees saw that they had been ordered by a shrunken bit of rubber, they might harm it.

  So the ghost stayed within its nest and bellowed down, “You, there, you clumsy old tree! Open that

  gate.”

  The trees trembled with anger at hearing their leader insulted. As for the old tree, it answered sadly,

  “I’d like to obey you, but I can’t. My roots weren’t made to work with keys.”

  “Then we’ll smash in the gate!” shouted the Ghost.

  “Ready, ADVANCE!”

  The trees drew themselves up and made ready to push in the gate. But just as they took the first step, the gate opened from within. It swung wide, exposing a threatening figure. Seeing it, the trees stood stlll and wrung their branches, weeping for mercy.

  The bells, clanging in the bell tower, had aroused the city. Crowds were gathered near the city gate, waiting for their queen to perform a miracle. And of course Ozma did not fail them.

  Turning to the Wizard, Ozma said, “It’s time I did something.”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” said the Wizard. “Go

  ahead.”

  Ozma put her hand on her magic belt, saying, “Nick, appear before the city gate.”

  Nick, the Tin Woodman, was at that moment in his Winkie palace, where he was Emperor. He had invited the Scarecrow to drop his duties as Ruler of the Munchkins and spend the week-end with him. The two friends were getting ready to enjoy a game of squash. They played this with ripe bananas and brickbats. Just as the Scarecrow was batting a banana, he looked up to find the Woodman gone.

  “He was probably called on business,” thought the Scarecrow.

  The Tin Woodman, finding himself flying through the air, thoughtfully reached for his ax on his way out of the palace yard.

  “This may be an emergency,” he thought, firmly shouldering his ax.

  In a few seconds he felt himself let down inside the gate of the Emerald City. He stood facing the gate in surprise, not understanding what was happening. The gate swung open of its own accord, and there before Nick stood a gigantic purple forest.

  “RUSH IN!” commanded a voice up in a tree.

  “Indeed?” answered the quick-witted Nick. “Nobody rushes in here without permission from the Guardian.”

  Saying that, the Tin Woodman began to lay about him with his ax. He felled the first tree in a couple of blows. It came crashing down to the ground.

  “I’M MURDERED!” cried a voice within the fallen tangle of leaves.

  A crow’s nest lay upside down under the leaves, and a shapeless figure was thrashing to get free. Its disagreeable odor was rushing out.

  The other trees drew back in fright. At this moment the five scalawagons dashed up.

  Jenny’s scalawagon recognized the Thing thrashing under the fallen tree. So did Jenny, by its smell.

  “Stop, scalawagon!” she cried, in a quiet voice. “Well done!”

  The four other scalawagons dashed up. “What shall we do now?” asked the girls.

  “Keep that Thing surrounded! Don’t let it get away!” shouted Jenny. Leaping from her car, she jumped on the crow’s nest.

  “Don’t expose me!” came a feeble voice within the nest. “Here’s your silly old bundle.”

  A skinny rubber arm pushed something toward

  Jenny.

  “My precious handbag!” cried Jenny, seizing it. Opening it, she took a quick look within and made sure that her fairy gifts were safe.

  The crowd on the sidelines cheered and called advice.

  “Don’t let it go!” “Take it to the queen!”

  The rubber ghost was so deflated that it could only wheeze: “Treed-freed—speed!”

  “What’s the need?” chuckled Jenny. “You’re as popular as a weed. I’m taking you to the queen.”

  Nick, the Woodman, was leaning on his ax and gazing at the trembling forest.

  “You don’t need to be jittery,” he said “Im not going to chop any more of you-unless you’re carrying concealed ghosts.”

  “We’re not!” said one tree. “We surrender! All we want is a drink of water.”

  “Water!” begged the other trees, so piteously, that Nick’s kind heart was moved.

  “Why didn’t you say so?” he replied. “Wait—” Turning, Nick spied Kabumpo the Elephant in the crowd. Kabumpo had come from the Animal Enclosure to learn the cause of the excitement.

  “Kabumpo, would you be good enough to lead the

  trees to some water?” said Nick.

  “Sure, Nick,” said Kabumpo with a grin and a toss of his trunk. “I’ll be proud to show them the gorgeous Elephant Fountain.”

  Turning around, Kabumpo showed the way into the city. The trees swept after him. The people ran after the trees. when the crowd had vanished, the Guardian and the Soldier ran in.

  “I’ll go along and keep the peace!” said the Soldier, and he hurried off.

  “I’ll stay and see that no more invaders trouble us,” said the Guardian, locking the gate with the keys that he had picked up from the ground.

  “I ought to be returning to my guest,” said Nick. “Where did you leave him?” asked Dorothy. She received no answer. Turning, she saw that Nick had vanished. Ozma had returned him to the Winkie Palace. Jenny had picked up the wriggling Ghost and was holding it wrapped within the nest.

  Jellia said, “I’d like to take a good look at the

  pest!”

  “You shall,” promised Jenny. “Follow me, girls.” The girls started their scalawagons and prepared to follow Jenny, when a groan came from behind them. They stopped and look back.

  “What was that?” asked Betsy.

  There was nothing to be seen, except the broken tree lying inside the gate.

  Again the moan came. Trot said in startled voice, “why, it’s the tree. Poor thing, are you hurt?”

  “No,” sighed the tree. “It’s not the loss of a limb or two. It’s being deserted by my friends that hurts.”

  And the tree gave such a deep sigh that all its leaves rustled.

  “We’ll help you up. Then follow us,” advised Jenny.

  “Thank you,” said the tree, struggling to its roots. “I couldn’t get up before, because you were in my

  hair.”

  “Sorry, but I had to get the ghost,” said Jenny. “I’m glad you did,” said the tree. “I’ve lost that haunted feeling.”

  The five scalawagons started, and the tree followed. At the corner, Jenny pointed down Pudding Place and told the tree how to reach the Elephant Fountain. It turned off, and the girls proceeded to Jenny’s Style Shop.

  CHAPTER 23

  Stamping Out Trouble

  INSIDE the shop, Sister Six gave Jenny a joyful greeting. The little Munchkin girl was curious to hear about her boss’ adventures. And the customers didn’t mind waiting to be waited on, while they listened, too.

  Jenny’s shop was one of the most popular places in the Emerald City. By a simple twist of the turnstyle, while you went through, you came out dressed in the fashion dearest to your heart.