L. Frank Baum_Oz 14 Read Online Free PDF

to the right, and they ascended ten more stairs, only to find at
the top of the flight five stairs leading straight down again. Again
the passage turned abruptly, this time to the left, and ten more stairs
led upward.
    The passage was now quite dark, for they were in the heart of the
mountain and all daylight had been shut out by the turns of the
passage. However, Ozma drew her silver wand from her bosom and the
great jewel at its end gave out a lustrous, green-tinted light which
lighted the place well enough for them to see their way plainly.
    Ten steps up, five steps down, and a turn, this way or that. That was
the program, and Dorothy figured that they were only gaining five
stairs upward each trip that they made.
    "Those Flatheads must be funny people," she said to Ozma. "They don't
seem to do anything in a bold straightforward manner. In making this
passage they forced everyone to walk three times as far as is
necessary. And of course this trip is just as tiresome to the Flatheads
as it is to other folks."
    "That is true," answered Ozma; "yet it is a clever arrangement to
prevent their being surprised by intruders. Every time we reach the
tenth step of a flight, the pressure of our feet on the stone makes a
bell ring on top of the mountain, to warn the Flatheads of our coming."
    "How do you know that?" demanded Dorothy, astonished.
    "I've heard the bell ever since we started," Ozma told her. "You could
not hear it, I know, but when I am holding my wand in my hand I can
hear sounds a great distance off."
    "Do you hear anything on top of the mountain 'cept the bell?" inquired
Dorothy.
    "Yes. The people are calling to one another in alarm and many footsteps
are approaching the place where we will reach the flat top of the
mountain."
    This made Dorothy feel somewhat anxious. "I'd thought we were going to
visit just common, ordinary people," she remarked, "but they're pretty
clever, it seems, and they know some kinds of magic, too. They may be
dangerous, Ozma. P'raps we'd better stayed at home."
    Finally the upstairs-and-downstairs passage seemed coming to an end,
for daylight again appeared ahead of the two girls and Ozma replaced
her wand in the bosom of her gown. The last ten steps brought them to
the surface, where they found themselves surrounded by such a throng of
queer people that for a time they halted, speechless, and stared into
the faces that confronted them.
    Dorothy knew at once why these mountain people were called Flatheads.
Their heads were really flat on top, as if they had been cut off just
above the eyes and ears. Also the heads were bald, with no hair on top
at all, and the ears were big and stuck straight out, and the noses
were small and stubby, while the mouths of the Flatheads were well
shaped and not unusual. Their eyes were perhaps their best feature,
being large and bright and a deep violet in color.
    The costumes of the Flatheads were all made of metals dug from their
mountain. Small gold, silver, tin and iron discs, about the size of
pennies, and very thin, were cleverly wired together and made to form
knee trousers and jackets for the men and skirts and waists for the
women. The colored metals were skillfully mixed to form stripes and
checks of various sorts, so that the costumes were quite gorgeous and
reminded Dorothy of pictures she had seen of Knights of old clothed
armor.
    Aside from their flat heads, these people were not really bad looking.
The men were armed with bows and arrows and had small axes of steel
stuck in their metal belts. They wore no hats nor ornaments.

Chapter Six - Flathead Mountain
*
    When they saw that the intruders on their mountain were only two little
girls, the Flatheads grunted with satisfaction and drew back,
permitting them to see what the mountain top looked like. It was shaped
like a saucer, so that the houses and other buildings—all made of
rocks—could not be seen over the edge by anyone standing in the plain
below.
    But now a big fat Flathead stood before