“Let him be sent for,” said the girl ruler.

While they waited for this command to be obeyed, she enquired: 

“Have we any other privates in the armies?”

“Oh, yes,” replied the Tin Woodman, “I believe there are three, altogether.”

The private now entered, saluting his officers and the royal Ozma very respectfully.

“What is your name, my man?” asked the girl.

“Omby Amby,” answered the private.

“Then, Omby Amby,” said she, “I promote you to be Captain General of all the armies of my kingdom, and especially to be Commander of my Body Guard at the royal palace.”

“It is very expensive to hold so many offices,” said the private, hesitating.  “I have no money with which to buy uniforms.”

“You shall be supplied from the royal treasury,” said Ozma.

Then the private was given a seat at the table, where the other officers welcomed him cordially, and the feasting and merriment were resumed.

Suddenly Jellia Jamb exclaimed: 

“There is nothing more to eat!  The Hungry Tiger has consumed everything!”

“But that is not the worst of it,” declared the Tiger, mournfully.  “Somewhere or somehow, I’ve actually lost my appetite!”

21.  Dorothy’s Magic Belt

Dorothy passed several very happy weeks in the Land of Oz as the guest of the royal Ozma, who delighted to please and interest the little Kansas girl.  Many new acquaintances were formed and many old ones renewed, and wherever she went Dorothy found herself among friends.

One day, however, as she sat in Ozma’s private room, she noticed hanging upon the wall a picture which constantly changed in appearance, at one time showing a meadow and at another time a forest, a lake or a village.

“How curious!” she exclaimed, after watching the shifting scenes for a few moments.

“Yes,” said Ozma, “that is really a wonderful invention in magic.  If I wish to see any part of the world or any person living, I need only express the wish and it is shown in the picture.”

“May I use it?” asked Dorothy, eagerly.

“Of course, my dear.”

“Then I’d like to see the old Kansas farm, and Aunt Em,” said the girl.

Instantly the well remembered farmhouse appeared in the picture, and Aunt Em could be seen quite plainly.  She was engaged in washing dishes by the kitchen window and seemed quite well and contented.  The hired men and the teams were in the harvest fields behind the house, and the corn and wheat seemed to the child to be in prime condition.  On the side porch Dorothy’s pet dog, Toto, was lying fast asleep in the sun, and to her surprise old Speckles was running around with a brood of twelve new chickens trailing after her.

“Everything seems all right at home,” said Dorothy, with a sigh of relief.  “Now I wonder what Uncle Henry is doing.”

The scene in the picture at once shifted to Australia, where, in a pleasant room in Sydney, Uncle Henry was seated in an easy chair, solemnly smoking his briar pipe.  He looked sad and lonely, and his hair was now quite white and his hands and face thin and wasted.