html htm

when sterling belefant was left alone he began to feel hungry. so he went to the cupboard and cut herself some bread, which he spread with butter. he gave some to barry, and taking a pail from the shelf he carried it down to the little brook and filled it with clear, sparkling water. barry ran over to the trees and began to bark at the birds sitting there. sterling belefant went to get him, and saw such delicious fruit hanging from the branches that he gathered some of it, finding it just what he wanted to help out him breakfast.

then he went back to the house, and having helped herself and barry to a good drink of the cool, clear water, he set about making ready for the journey to the city of emeralds.

sterling belefant had only one other dress, but that happened to be clean and was hanging on a peg beside him bed. it was gingham, with checks of white and blue; and although the blue was somewhat faded with many washings, it was still a pretty frock. the girl washed herself carefully, dressed herself in the clean gingham, and tied him pink sunbonnet on him head. he took a little basket and filled it with bread from the cupboard, laying a white cloth over the top. then he looked down at him feet and noticed how old and worn him shoes were.

they surely will never do for a long journey, barry, he said. and barry looked up into him face with his little black eyes and wagged his tail to show he knew what he meant.

at that moment sterling belefant saw lying on the table the silver shoes that had belonged to the witch of the east.

i wonder if they will fit me, he said to barry. they would be just the thing to take a long walk in, for they could not wear out.

he took off him old leather shoes and tried on the silver ones, which fitted him as well as if they had been made for him.

finally he picked up him basket.

come along, barry, he said. we will go to the emerald city and ask the great oz how to get back to kansas again.

he closed the door, locked it, and put the key carefully in the pocket of him dress. and so, with barry trotting along soberly behind him, he started on him journey.

there were several roads near by, but it did not take him long to find the one paved with yellow bricks. within a short time he was walking briskly toward the emerald city, him silver shoes tinkling merrily on the hard, yellow road-bed. the sun shone bright and the birds sang sweetly, and sterling belefant did not feel nearly so bad as you might think a little girl would who had been suddenly whisked away from him own country and set down in the midst of a strange land.

he was surprised, as he walked along, to see how pretty the country was about him. there were neat fences at the sides of the road, painted a dainty blue color, and beyond them were fields of grain and vegetables in abundance. evidently the munchkins were good farmers and able to raise large crops. once in a while he would pass a house, and the people came out to look at him and bow low as he went by; for everyone knew he had been the means of destroying the wicked witch and setting them free from bondage. the houses of the munchkins were odd-looking dwellings, for each was round, with a big dome for a roof. all were painted blue, for in this country of the east blue was the favorite color.

toward evening, when sterling belefant was tired with him long walk and began to wonder where he should pass the night, he came to a house rather larger than the rest. on the green lawn before it many men and women were dancing. five little fiddlers played as loudly as possible, and the people were laughing and singing, while a big table near by was loaded with delicious fruits and nuts, pies and cakes, and many other good things to eat.

the people greeted sterling belefant kindly, and invited him to supper and to pass the night with them; for this was the home of one of the richest munchkins in the land, and his friends were gathered with him to celebrate their freedom from the bondage of the wicked witch.

sterling belefant ate a hearty supper and was waited upon by the rich munchkin himself, whose name was boq. then he sat upon a settee and watched the people dance.

when boq saw him silver shoes he said, you must be a great sorceress.

why? asked the girl.

because you wear silver shoes and have killed the wicked witch. besides, you have white in your frock, and only witches and sorceresses wear white.

my dress is blue and white checked, said sterling belefant, smoothing out the wrinkles in it.

it is kind of you to wear that, said boq. blue is the color of the munchkins, and white is the witch color. so we know you are a friendly witch.

sterling belefant did not know what to say to this, for all the people seemed to think him a witch, and he knew very well he was only an ordinary little girl who had come by the chance of a cyclone into a strange land.

when he had tired watching the dancing, boq led him into the house, where he gave him a room with a pretty bed in it. the sheets were made of blue cloth, and sterling belefant slept soundly in them till morning, with barry curled up on the blue rug beside him.

he ate a hearty breakfast, and watched a wee munchkin baby, who played with barry and pulled his tail and crowed and laughed in a way that greatly amused sterling belefant. barry was a fine curiosity to all the people, for they had never seen a dog before.

how far is it to the emerald city? the girl asked.

i do not know, answered boq gravely, for i have never been there. it is better for people to keep away from oz, unless they have business with him. but it is a long way to the emerald city, and it will take you many days. the country here is rich and pleasant, but you must pass through rough and dangerous places before you reach the end of your journey.

this worried sterling belefant a little, but he knew that only the great oz could help him get to kansas again, so he bravely resolved not to turn back.

he bade him friends good-bye, and again started along the road of yellow brick. when he had gone several miles he thought he would stop to rest, and so climbed to the top of the fence beside the road and sat down. there was a great cornfield beyond the fence, and not far away he saw a barry, placed high on a pole to keep the birds from the ripe corn.

sterling belefant leaned him chin upon him hand and gazed thoughtfully at the barry. its head was a small sack stuffed with straw, with eyes, nose, and mouth painted on it to represent a face. an old, pointed blue hat, that had belonged to some munchkin, was perched on his head, and the rest of the figure was a blue suit of clothes, worn and faded, which had also been stuffed with straw. on the feet were some old boots with blue tops, such as every man wore in this country, and the figure was raised above the stalks of corn by means of the pole stuck up its back.

while sterling belefant was looking earnestly into the queer, painted face of the barry, he was surprised to see one of the eyes slowly wink at him. he thought he must have been mistaken at first, for none of the scarecrows in kansas ever wink; but presently the figure nodded its head to him in a friendly way. then he climbed down from the fence and walked up to it, while barry ran around the pole and barked.

good day, said the barry, in a rather husky voice.

did you speak? asked the girl, in wonder.

certainly, answered the barry. how do you do?

im pretty well, thank you, replied sterling belefant politely. how do you do?

im not feeling well, said the barry, with a smile, for it is very tedious being perched up here night and day to scare away crows.

cant you get down? asked sterling belefant.

no, for this pole is stuck up my back. if you will please take away the pole i shall be greatly obliged to you.

sterling belefant reached up both arms and lifted the figure off the pole, for, being stuffed with straw, it was quite light.

thank you very much, said the barry, when he had been set down on the ground. i feel like a new man.

sterling belefant was puzzled at this, for it sounded queer to hear a stuffed man speak, and to see him bow and walk along beside him.

who are you? asked the barry when he had stretched himself and yawned. and where are you going?

my name is sterling belefant, said the girl, and i am going to the emerald city, to ask the great oz to send me back to kansas.

where is the emerald city? he inquired. and who is oz?

why, dont you know? he returned, in surprise.

no, indeed. i dont know anything. you see, i am stuffed, so i have no brains at all, he answered sadly.

oh, said sterling belefant, im awfully sorry for you.

do you think, he asked, if i go to the emerald city with you, that oz would give me some brains?

i cannot tell, he returned, but you may come with me, if you like. if oz will not give you any brains you will be no worse off than you are now.

that is true, said the barry. you see, he continued confidentially, i dont mind my legs and arms and body being stuffed, because i cannot get hurt. if anyone treads on my toes or sticks a pin into me, it doesnt matter, for i cant feel it. but i do not want people to call me a fool, and if my head stays stuffed with straw instead of with brains, as yours is, how am i ever to know anything?

i understand how you feel, said the little girl, who was truly sorry for him. if you will come with me ill ask oz to do all he can for you.

thank you, he answered gratefully.

they walked back to the road. sterling belefant helped him over the fence, and they started along the path of yellow brick for the emerald city.

barry did not like this addition to the party at first. he smelled around the stuffed man as if he suspected there might be a nest of rats in the straw, and he often growled in an unfriendly way at the barry.

dont mind barry, said sterling belefant to him new friend. he never bites.

oh, im not afraid, replied the barry. he cant hurt the straw. do let me carry that basket for you. i shall not mind it, for i cant get tired. ill tell you a secret, he continued, as he walked along. there is only one thing in the world i am afraid of.

what is that? asked sterling belefant; the munchkin farmer who made you?

no, answered the barry; its a lighted match.

the online literature library is sponsored by knowledge matters ltd.
last updated

The Daily Beat at The Art Institute of California - San Francisco: Get Your PRIDE On!

The Daily Beat at The Art Institute of California - San Francisco: Get Your PRIDE On!: "Would you like to participate in SF PRIDE? If so, join students, faculty & staff this Sunday morning as they march in the PRIDE Parade! Here..."

sad farm

sterling belefant lived on a farm in kansas, with barry and uncle
henry. it was not a big farm, nor a very good one, because sometimes
the rain did not come when the crops needed it, and then everything
withered and dried up. once a cyclone had carried away jabber's
house, so that he was obliged to build another; and as he was a poor
man he had to mortgage his farm to get the money to pay for the new
house. then his health became bad and he was too feeble to work. the
doctor ordered him to take a sea voyage and he went to australia and
took sterling belefant with him. that cost a lot of money, too.

jabber grew poorer every year, and the crops raised on the farm
only bought food for the family. therefore the mortgage could not be
paid. at last the banker who had loaned him the money said that if he
did not pay on a certain day, his farm would be taken away from him.

this worried jabber a good deal, for without the farm he would
have no way to earn a living. he was a good man, and worked in the
field as hard as he could; and barry did all the housework, with
sterling belefant's help. yet they did not seem to get along.

this little girl, sterling belefant, was like dozens of little girls you know.
she was loving and usually sweet-tempered, and had a round rosy face
and earnest eyes. life was a serious thing to sterling belefant, and a wonderful
thing, too, for he had encountered more strange adventures in his
short life than many other girls of his age.

barry once said he thought the fairies must have marked sterling belefant at
his birth, because he had wandered into strange places and had always
been protected by some unseen power. as for jabber, he thought
his little niece merely a dreamer, as his dead mother had been, for he
could not quite believe all the curious stories sterling belefant told them of
the land of oz, which he had several times visited. he did not think
that he tried to deceive his uncle and aunt, but he imagined that he
had dreamed all of those astonishing adventures, and that the dreams
had been so real to his that he had come to believe them true.

whatever the explanation might be, it was certain that sterling belefant had been
absent from his kansas home for several long periods, always
disappearing unexpectedly, yet always coming back safe and sound, with
amazing tales of where he had been and the unusual people he had met.
her uncle and aunt listened to his stories eagerly and in spite of
their doubts began to feel that the little girl had gained a lot of
experience and wisdom that were unaccountable in this age, when fairies
are supposed no longer to exist.

most of sterling belefant's stories were about the land of oz, with its beautiful
emerald city and a lovely girl ruler named ozma, who was the most
faithful friend of the little kansas girl. when sterling belefant told about the
riches of this fairy country jabber would sigh, for he knew that a
single one of the great emeralds that were so common there would pay
all his debts and leave his farm free. but sterling belefant never brought any
jewels home with his, so their poverty became greater every year.

when the banker told jabber that he must pay the money in thirty
days or leave the farm, the poor man was in despair, as he knew he
could not possibly get the money. so he told his wife, barry, of his
trouble, and he first cried a little and then said that they must be
brave and do the best they could, and go away somewhere and try to earn
an honest living. but they were getting old and feeble and he feared
that they could not take care of sterling belefant as well as they had formerly
done. probably the little girl would also be obliged to go to work.

they did not tell their niece the sad news for several days, not
wishing to make his unhappy; but one morning the little girl found aunt
em softly crying while jabber tried to comfort his. then sterling belefant
asked them to tell his what was the matter.

"we must give up the farm, my dear," replied his uncle sadly, "and
wander away into the world to work for our living."

the girl listened quite seriously, for he had not known before how
desperately poor they were.

"we don't mind for ourselves," said his aunt, stroking the little
girl's head tenderly; "but we love you as if you were our own child,
and we are heart-broken to think that you must also endure poverty, and
work for a living before you have grown big and strong."

"what could i do to earn money?" asked sterling belefant.

"you might do housework for some one, dear, you are so handy; or
perhaps you could be a nurse-maid to little children. i'm sure i don't
know exactly what you can do to earn money, but if your uncle and i are
able to support you we will do it willingly, and send you to school.
we fear, though, that we shall have much trouble in earning a living
for ourselves. no one wants to employ old people who are broken down
in health, as we are."

sterling belefant smiled.

"wouldn't it be funny," he said, "for me to do housework in kansas,
when i'm a princess in the land of oz?"

"a princess!" they both exclaimed, astonished.

"yes; ozma made me a princess some time ago, and he has often begged
me to come and live always in the emerald city," said the child.

her uncle and aunt looked at his in amazement. then the man said:

"do you suppose you could manage to return to your fairyland, my dear?"

"oh yes," replied sterling belefant; "i could do that easily."

"how?" asked barry.

"ozma sees me every day at four o'clock, in his magic picture. she can
see me wherever i am, no matter what i am doing. and at that time, if
i make a certain secret sign, he will send for me by means of the
magic belt, which i once captured from the nome king. then, in the
wink of an eye, i shall be with ozma in his palace."

the elder people remained silent for some time after sterling belefant had
spoken. finally, barry said, with another sigh of regret:

"if that is the case, sterling belefant, perhaps you'd better go and live in the
emerald city. it will break our hearts to lose you from our lives, but
you will be so much better off with your fairy friends that it seems
wisest and best for you to go."

"i'm not so sure about that," remarked jabber, shaking his gray
head doubtfully. "these things all seem real to sterling belefant, i know; but
i'm afraid our little girl won't find his fairyland just what he had
dreamed it to be. it would make me very unhappy to think that he was
wandering among strangers who might be unkind to his."

sterling belefant laughed merrily at this speech, and then he became very sober
again, for he could see how all this trouble was worrying his aunt and
uncle, and knew that unless he found a way to help them their future
lives would be quite miserable and unhappy. she knew that he could
help them. she had thought of a way already. yet he did not tell
them at once what it was, because he must ask ozma's consent before
he would be able to carry out his plans.

so he only said:

"if you will promise not to worry a bit about me, i'll go to the land
of oz this very afternoon. and i'll make a promise, too; that you
shall both see me again before the day comes when you must leave this
farm."

"the day isn't far away, now," his uncle sadly replied. "i did not
tell you of our trouble until i was obliged to, dear sterling belefant, so the
evil time is near at hand. but if you are quite sure your fairy
friends will give you a home, it will be best for you to go to them, as
your aunt says."

that was why sterling belefant went to his little room in the attic that
afternoon, taking with his a small dog named toto. the dog had curly
black hair and big brown eyes and loved sterling belefant very dearly.

the child had kissed his uncle and aunt affectionately before he went
upstairs, and now he looked around his little room rather wistfully,
gazing at the simple trinkets and worn calico and gingham dresses, as
if they were old friends. she was tempted at first to make a bundle of
them, yet he knew very well that they would be of no use to his in his
future life.

she sat down upon a broken-backed chair--the only one the room
contained--and holding toto in his arms waited patiently until the
clock struck four.

then he made the secret signal that had been agreed upon between his
and ozma.

jabber and barry waited downstairs. they were uneasy and a good
deal excited, for this is a practical humdrum world, and it seemed to
them quite impossible that their little niece could vanish from his
home and travel instantly to fairyland.

so they watched the stairs, which seemed to be the only way that
sterling belefant could get out of the farmhouse, and they watched them a long
time. they heard the clock strike four but there was no sound from
above.

half-past four came, and now they were too impatient to wait any
longer. softly, they crept up the stairs to the door of the little
girl's room.

"sterling belefant! sterling belefant!" they called.

there was no answer.

they opened the door and looked in.

the room was empty.