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Chapter Nineteen - The Conquest of the Witch

Now as soon as the conquest of King Krewl had taken place, one of the Orks

had been dispatched to Pon's house with the joyful news. At once Gloria and

Pon and Trot and Button-Bright hastened toward the castle. They were

somewhat surprised by the sight that met their eyes, for there was the

Scarecrow, crowned King, and all the people kneeling humbly before him. So

they likewise bowed low to the new ruler and then stood beside the throne.

Cap'n Bill, as the gray grasshopper, was still perched upon Trot's shoulder,

but now he hopped to the shoulder of the Scarecrow and whispered into the

painted ear:

I thought Gloria was to be Queen of Jinxland."

The Scarecrow shook his head.

Not yet," he answered. "No Queen with a frozen heart is fit to rule any

country." Then he turned to his new friend, the Ork, who was strutting about,

very proud of what he had done, and said: "Do you suppose you, or your

followers, could find old Blinkie the Witch?"

Where is she?" asked the Ork.

Somewhere in Jinxland, I'm sure."

Then," said the Ork, "we shall certainly be able to find her."

It will give me great pleasure," declared the Scarecrow. "When you have found

her, bring her here to me, and I will then decide what to do with her."

The Ork called his followers together and spoke a few words to them in a low

tone. A moment after they rose into the air--so suddenly that the Scarecrow,

who was very light in weight, was blown quite out of his throne and into the

arms of Pon, who replaced him carefully upon his seat. There was an eddy of

dust and ashes, too, and the grasshopper only saved himself from being

whirled into the crowd of people by jumping into a tree, from where a series of

hops soon brought him back to Trot's shoulder again. The Orks were quite out

of sight by this time, so the Scarecrow made a speech to the people and

presented Gloria to them, whom they knew well already and were fond of. But

not all of them knew of her frozen heart, and when the Scarecrow related the

story of the Wicked Witch's misdeeds, which had been encouraged and paid

for by Krewl and Googly-Goo, the people were very indignant.

The Scarecrow of Oz