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.
