Rinkitink in Oz

[Illustration: THIS BOOK BELONGS TO]

[Illustration: RINKITINK IN OZ]

[Illustration]

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  RINKITINK IN OZ

  BY

  L. FRANK BAUM

  AUTHOR OF

  The Road to Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The
    Emerald City of Oz, The Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz,
        The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Tik-Tok of
              Oz, The Scarecrow of Oz


  [Illustration]

  ILLUSTRATED BY
  JOHN R. NEILL

  The Reilly & Britton Co.
  Chicago




[Illustration]

  Copyright 1916
  By L. Frank Baum

  ALL RIGHTS
  RESERVED




  To
  My New Grandson--
  Robert Alison Baum

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[Illustration]




INTRODUCING THIS STORY

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Here is a story with a boy hero, and a boy of whom you have never before
heard. There are girls in the story, too, including our old friend
Dorothy, and some of the characters wander a good way from the Land of
Oz before they all assemble in the Emerald City to take part in Ozma's
banquet. Indeed, I think you will find this story quite different from
the other histories of Oz, but I hope you will not like it the less on
that account.

If I am permitted to write another Oz book it will tell of some
thrilling adventures encountered by Dorothy, Betsy Bobbin, Trot and the
Patchwork Girl right in the Land of Oz, and how they discovered some
amazing creatures that never could have existed outside a fairyland. I
have an idea that about the time you are reading this story of Rinkitink
I shall be writing that story of Adventures in Oz.

Don't fail to write me often and give me your advice and suggestions,
which I always appreciate. I get a good many letters from my readers,
but every one is a joy to me and I answer them as soon as I can find
time to do so.

  L. FRANK BAUM
  Royal Historian of Oz

  "OZCOT"
  at HOLLYWOOD
  in CALIFORNIA
  1916.




LIST OF CHAPTERS


  1 The Prince of Pingaree                      17

  2 The Coming of King Rinkitink                29

  3 The Warriors from the North                 44

  4 The Deserted Island                         56

  5 The Three Pearls                            71

  6 The Magic Boat                              92

  7 The Twin Islands                           109

  8 Rinkitink Makes a Great Mistake            127

  9 A Present for Zella                        142

  10 The Cunning of Queen Cor                  153

  11 Zella Goes to Coregos                     167

  12 The Excitement of Bilbil the Goat         175

  13 Zella Saves the Prince                    180

  14 The Escape                                192

  15 The Flight of the Rulers                  210

  16 Nikobob Refuses a Crown                   216

  17 The Nome King                             226

  18 Inga Parts with his Pink Pearl            237

  19 Rinkitink Chuckles                        265

  20 Dorothy to the Rescue                     275

  21 The Wizard Finds an Enchantment           281

  22 Ozma's Banquet                            291

  23 The Pearl Kingdom                         301

  24 The Captive King                          307

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The Prince of Pingaree

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CHAPTER 1


If you have a map of the Land of Oz handy, you will find that the great
Nonestic Ocean washes the shores of the Kingdom of Rinkitink, between
which and the Land of Oz lies a strip of the country of the Nome King
and a Sandy Desert. The Kingdom of Rinkitink isn't very big and lies
close to the ocean, all the houses and the King's palace being built
near the shore. The people live much upon the water, boating and
fishing, and the wealth of Rinkitink is gained from trading along the
coast and with the islands nearest it.

Four days' journey by boat to the north of Rinkitink is the Island of
Pingaree, and as our story begins here I must tell you something about
this island. At the north end of Pingaree, where it is widest, the land
is a mile from shore to shore, but at the south end it is scarcely half
a mile broad; thus, although Pingaree is four miles long, from north to
south, it cannot be called a very big island. It is exceedingly pretty,
however, and to the gulls who approach it from the sea it must resemble
a huge green wedge lying upon the waters, for its grass and trees give
it the color of an emerald.

The grass came to the edge of the sloping shores; the beautiful trees
occupied all the central portion of Pingaree, forming a continuous grove
where the branches met high overhead and there was just space beneath
them for the cosy houses of the inhabitants. These houses were scattered
everywhere throughout the island, so that there was no town or city,
unless the whole island might be called a city. The canopy of leaves,
high overhead, formed a shelter from sun and rain, and the dwellers in
the grove could all look past the straight tree-trunks and across the
grassy slopes to the purple waters of the Nonestic Ocean.

At the big end of the island, at the north, stood the royal palace of
King Kitticut, the lord and ruler of Pingaree.