Thomas Lambert Sappington

“ Now a twenty-headed Gallopus is shaped like a star with twenty points, and on each point is a head. And each head has two pop eyes, two big ears, a wide mouth with a complete collection of long, sharp teeth, and a turned up nose. And when a twenty-headed Gallopus wishes to show a person that he does not care for his society, he turns slowly about and stares at him fixedly with his forty eyes, which makes a person feel very uncomfortable. So you can easily imagine how Ting felt when he reached the enchanted castle and confronted the twenty-headed Gallopus in the courtyard. ”

“ Of all the witches that may be found in all the fairy tales ever told there is none more delightfully sociable than the Sand Witch. This Witch, who lives underneath the heaps of sand at the ocean's edge, where, in the summertime, you dig with your shovel, is not at all like other witches. She never rides on a broomstick, and she never goes down chimneys. In the first place there are no broomsticks or chimneys on the beach at the sea-shore, and in the second place she would not know how to ride on a broomstick or climb down a chimney, if there were. ”

“ And now, come on, Omo, and get the doctor for your grandfather and pay the ogre his rent."
"But," howled the Doodab of Ootch and the Night Watchman, "what do we do? We haven't a cent!"
"You don't deserve any," replied the fairy godmother, sternly. "And as long as you're howling so about it, I'll just make you and the whole city disappear as well."
And she did, with three clucks and a snap of her fingers; and the next moment Omo found himself in the fairy godmother's cottage. ”

“ With a shout a whole regiment of the King's soldiers rushed around the corner and made a grab at him, but quick as a wink Pranc twisted the Fairy Godmother's ring once more, and bing—over went the soldiers on their backs and hit their heads bang, and by the time they were able to sit up and rub the bumps, the Prince had reached the elevator. ”

“ With another shriek the Princess fainted away, and as for Ting, he almost fainted too, at the thought of turning into anything so horrid.
"I don't believe it," he said, glaring at the Gallopus.
"Just as you please," answered the monster, "but when you're a spider you'll believe it. That castle was built to hold the Princess and nobody else. If anybody else goes in they turn into a spider unless they come out in an hour." ”

“ And with that he began to crowd them against the walls of the cave something awful. It was just like having a house trying to walk over you, and Floo and the Dancing Pearl had to step lively to keep out of the monster's way.
"If we can only get outside," panted Floo, "I believe I can fix him, for I've thought of a plan." ”

“ All the Sand Witch knows how to do is to sink into the sand when anything scares her, and to come up through the sand when she sees a chance to get acquainted with a person she never was acquainted with before. So now you know what a Sand Witch is. And if Junior Jenks, seven years old, and dreadfully sunburnt, had known what you know, he would have been much better prepared to face the one that came up right under his nose all of a sudden one hot July morning. ”

“ So he leaned out of the window and called to the monster: "you might as well go away now. I've decided to become a spider."
"What!" shouted the twenty-headed Gallopus, "why, you must be crazy. Why—why, it's an awful feeling to be a spider. It's much nicer to be eaten. Come on out and I'll swallow you whole and it won't hurt a bit."
"No," said Ting, "I think I prefer to be a spider." ”

“ So he determined that he would give up his job right away.
"I've decided not to be your errand boy any longer," he said to the enchanter, as he handed him the money he had received from his mother's aunt's second cousin. "I find you are too wicked to work for."
"Humph!" said the tailor, "and why am I any wickeder now than I was this morning? You were glad to work for me then."
"I know," said Winn, "but I have just seen my mother's aunt's second cousin turn from a carefree, happy person into a miserable wretch, and all because I delivered him one of your enchanted suits of clothes. ”

“ The next instant he stood up as straight as he could, grasped his nose with his left hand, put his right hand above his head, blew out his breath, and bing—he shot up through the sand, and found himself right alongside of his bucket and shovel.
He looked about. Everything was just the same. The sun was shining, people were still in bathing, but nowhere among them could he see his father, or mother, or sister. And then, presently they came tearing over the sand toward him.
"You bad boy!" scolded Mrs. Jenks. "Where have you been? We've been terribly worried! How dare you go off by yourself? ”

“ So when the ogress had gone back to her cottage to put away her golden eggs, Jack pulled open the shutter and climbed into the room where the magic hen was going about clucking proudly because she had laid so many eggs. And before the hen knew what was going to happen he grabbed her, tucked her under his arm, climbed out of the window again and ran off to see if he could find where the grapevine was.
"Gee whiz!" he chuckled, "if I can only get home with this hen we'll be so rich my father won't have to work again. We can have automobiles and steam yachts and everything." ”

“ He didn't think it wise to tell anything about the fairy godmother giving him the key to the fountain for fear some one might try to take the key from him.
"Quite so," said the other, "then you'd better come with me. The shower is over now, and if you want to see the fountain you've got to get a permit from the Doodab."
"The Doodab! What's a Doodab?" asked Omo.
"A Doodab," exclaimed the Night Watchman, "is the next swellest person to a Gumshu. Ootch isn't important enough to be governed by a Gumshu so they put a Doodab over us, and he's a right decent chap, and very fond of music. ”

“ There may be a hundred leaves falling and not one leaf have a Poppykok on it, and then all of a sudden, another leaf falls on your shoulder and a Poppykok is sitting on it, and then—bing—the moment he lands on your shoulder he jumps off the leaf and pastes a magic postage stamp on your cheek, and then—off you start for Obstinate Town by special delivery, that is, you do if you happen to be a boy that always wants his own way. But if you are not that kind of a boy, you need not worry. ”

“ So everybody started off for the palace and never stopped until they stood outside the monarch's sitting-room. "Wait a moment," said the Chairman of the Exterminating Committee, "until I see whether he is busy." Whereupon he put his eye to the keyhole. "Yes," he said, straightening up again, "he is quite busy snooping under his bathroom door."
"But," said Pranc, "what's the use of that?"
"What's the use of anything?" snapped the First Lord of the Keyhole. "Practice makes perfect, and the more you snoop the better you can do it. The King of Snoopania does not believe in wasting his time, sir." ”

“ And when Winn heard what he was saying he knew right away that if he could only escape he could easily get his father, and grandfather, and uncle, and big brother out of the power of Toobad the tailor, for he only had to tell them to pull down their vests and they would be rid forever of the hateful clothing they were wearing. But alas, it was one thing to want to get home, and another to get there, for while he was transformed into a tailor's dummy he was utterly helpless and could only stand and watch Toobad as he wandered about the shop with his eyes shut and the lighted candle in his hand. ”

“ But when he got to the tailor's shop he had a very hard time to coax Toobad into having an errand boy. "No, no," said the enchanter, testily, "I don't need an errand boy, and even if I did need one I need the money your family pays me much more."
"But think how stylish it is for a tailor to have an errand boy," said Winn. "All fashionable tailors send clothes home to their customers. They never ask customers to come after their clothes. ”

“ No one ever talks about not wanting their own way in Obstinate Town. It's downright treason. Do you want to go to prison? But anyhow, I don't suppose you meant it."
"Indeed, I did," said Zep, "I meant every word I said. I'm tired of having my own way—it's silly. Look at the mess it's got me into. I'm going to be different—"
"Stop!" shrieked the Emperor, at the top of his lungs, "stop, I say! You'll have a Kokkipop here in another moment, and oh, how I hate 'em. I hate 'em worse than—than spiders. ”

“ My name is Sin Sum. And while I am explaining things to you let me say that I am not a mandarin; that I am not on my way to a wedding; and that the goods I have are not wedding presents."
"What," exclaimed Dong, "not a mandarin and not going to a wedding? Then what are you?"
"I—that is, we," replied the supposed mandarin, "are the Second Story Brothers, the cleverest porch climbers in China. In other words we are robbers, and famous ones, too. Why we've even written a song about ourselves. ”

“ You see, it's not very pleasant to be made into a dumpling, and have my grandfather put out of his cottage when he has a broken leg. Please, please, help me!"
"Well," said the old lady, as she led the way into a little house with a peaked roof, "I only help people who help themselves. Can you help yourself?"
"Certainly!" said Omo. "Just offer me something and watch me help myself."
"Very well then, I will," responded the fairy godmother. Going to a golden desk in a corner she took from it a silver key. "This is the key that turns on the Fountain of Riches in the City of Ootch. ”

“ Sand Witch, as the children stood before her, panting. "What has happened?"
And after they had told her she said they were never even to speak to those clams again. "I never did care for clams, anyhow," she said. "They're always disagreeing with people."
Then she told them that dinner was almost ready and that she knew they would enjoy it. "We've got the most delicious sandpaper garnished with seaweed," she added; "to say nothing of sand pies for dessert."
And when she said that both the little Sand Witches jumped up and down with glee, and cheered and cheered. "Oh, goody!" they cried. ”

“ One never grows old in an enchanted castle. But if she didn't grow old the wicked uncle did, so much so that he finally died of it. Then as no one had ever found a way to rescue the Princess, and as her uncle had stated in his will that she was not to be set free until she was rescued, the heirs of the wicked uncle had to let things go on as they were, so the Princess still remains in the castle with the twenty-headed Gallopus on guard."
"But," said Ting, "doesn't a Gallopus ever grow old?" ”

“ You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Look at my nose, to say nothing of the bump on my shins. My, oh, my, isn't anybody worried about me?"
"I am, your majesty," put in Zep, "and I think the Queen ought to be, too."
"She ought not," snapped the monarch, scrambling to his feet. "If I wanted her to be glad she would be worried, but as I want her to be worried, she is not. You must be a stranger here."
"He is," said the Poppykok. "He just arrived. ”

“ Your husband is hunting for you and if he finds you here he'll pull my castle up by the roots."
"What do I care about your old castle," snapped Mrs. Blunderbuss. "And anyway, he couldn't because he's deader than a doornail; so there."
"Oh, no, he isn't," put in Jack. "You may think he is, but he isn't. That fall down the beanstalk only stunned him."
And then he told the giant's wife how he had dug Blunderbuss out and how the giant had brought him back because he thought that Jack was the boy who had run off with his property. ”

“ Now the Doodab of Ootch was a very, very fat, and a very, very lazy gentleman. He hated to be bothered about anything at any time. He wore rings on his fingers and bells on his toes, and he had a big hoop of pearls through the end of his nose. And he especially hated to be bothered when he was singing, which is what he was doing as Omo and the Night Watchman entered his apartment. And this is what he was singing in a very quivery voice as he accompanied himself on a slate with an awfully squeaky slate pencil:
The currant cakes were thick upon the bushes ”

“ But had he known what the royal necromancer had done, he would have been frowning instead of smiling, for Wist the Wise when he told the Emperor that he could not provide a real island, had not spoken the truth. If he had conjured up a real island only certain things could have happened on it. But on the imaginary island which he had provided, anything could happen. And when anything can happen there are bound to be some very strange adventures. And so the wizard felt pretty sure that Frip would have a tough time before he got back again. ”