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The thing, smiling, approached, its blue-clad sleeves and white cloth gloves its hands spread out
welcomingly.
Dorothy s son! the phonographic voice boomed. Welcome! Thrice welcome!
It folded its arms around Hank s waist and pressed its flat face against him.
Hank was moved, and, for some reason, tears crawled out and slid over his cheeks.
I thank the Little Father, he said. I wish my mother could be here with me.
The Scarecrow released him and stepped not very gracefully back.
And how is the dear little girl?
In good health and happy spirits, The Highest. But she is, of course, not a little girl anymore.
Ah, yes. I forgot. They grow... Well, come along with me to the palace, my boy, and I ll show you your
room and give you the schedule for today and tonight.
Hank first made sure, however, that the Jenny was wheeled carefully into a barn and that a guard would
keep the curious away from it.
It, too, has a painted face, the ruler said.
Hank did not reply. What could he say except to ask the king what caused his strange remark.
The daylight hours were spent in making a tour of the city and environs. The evening was a long feast
with much guzzling of beer and booze by most of the guests. There was no smoking in the room,
however. The Scarecrow still feared fire more than anything. With good reason.
Hank sat at the ruler s right and ate and drank. The Scarecrow, at the head of a table seating fifty, had
neither plate nor cup. It asked Hank many questions about his mother and Earth. Then it said, Glinda
has sent me information about the attempt of your people to open a way between them and us. She is
much concerned about it.
I don t think there s any reason to be concerned, Hank said, lying. My people don t seem able to
control the opening, and I doubt very much that they ever will.
Perhaps not. In any event, Glinda should be able to handle it.
Hank was going to ask what it meant by that, but it said, Of much more immediate concern is Erakna
the Uneatable.
Hank wanted to ask it how the witch got her name, but he was afraid to.
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She s even worse than the late Witch of the West, it said. She s so cruel and oppressive, and she s
taxing the Gillikins pants off. Her excuse for the high taxes is that she must raise a big army for defense.
Yet she s the one who s instigated the border incidents, and she s getting ready to invade us.
The Scarecrow tapped its head. The trouble with this world is lack of brains. If only reason could
rule...
Emotions have almost always governed human behavior, and they always will, Hank said.
I wonder what the reason for that is?
Erakna had been comparatively unknown before the old North Witch died. It was unlawful for anyone
but the ruler to practice witchcraft, but there were some who did so anyway in the distant rural areas.
Erakna had appeared in Helwedo s palace a few minutes after the old woman had died. She had seized
power by terrorizing the Gillikins with a display of witchly pyrotechnics and violence that had cowed
them. That she had been planning the takeover for a long time was shown by the suddenness with which
a band of her followers had moved into the central government. There had been revolts, but she had put
them down bloodily.
The main conflict, the deciding one, would probably be between the witches. If Glinda could overcome
Erakna, the Gillikins would fold up. If Erakna killed Glinda, she would take all four countries. There might
be resistance to her, but her opponents would be psychologically crippled.
After the feast was over, Hank said goodnight to the guests and went to bed. The Wizard had built a
monstrously large bed for himself, a sprawling canopied piece of furniture with gold solid legs and alloyed
silver frame. This was the only bed large enough for Hank, and the Scarecrow did not mind Hank using
it. The Scarecrow did not sleep. He read all night or studied and signed papers or sometimes just
prowled the palace.
A ruler has many decisions to make, much information about his subjects to ponder. I m fortunate in that
I, unlike flesh and blood monarchs, don t have to waste eight hours every night. My people, you might
say, get two rulers for the price of one.
Hank laughed and said, While you re visiting Glinda, Your Wiseness, who rules in your place?
The Scarecrow s face could not change expression. Yet Hank got the impression of raised eyebrows.
My prime minister, Azer the Eager. A very wise young man, though he smokes too much.
Have you checked him out? Hank said. I mean, you know his background thoroughly?
What?
Hank gestured impatiently.
I mean, he couldn t be a spy? Erakna s agent?
Why in the world would you think of that?
Erakna, from what I ve heard, is very subtle, a real snake. Oh, well, perhaps I m too presumptuous.
Too suspicious. But...
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The Scarecrow turned its head so that Hank could see only I the larger eye.
Did Glinda suggest that you ask me about Azer?
Hank nodded.
She said that she had no reason to suspect him. I hope Your Oneness will forgive me for saying this, but
she wasn t satisfied with his story. I mean, he says he comes from a small village on the Winkie border.
But you did not verify that.
Well, I declare! the Scarecrow said, and it said something Hank couldn t understand. It was probably
reverting to its Munchkin dialect.
I ll be leaving in the morning, it said. How can I do that if I don t know whether or not Azer is
trustworthy? If he s Erakna s agent, then...
There s no need to be alarmed, Hank said. Glinda has already sent a hawk to Azer s village. He
investigated and reported to her that Azer seemed to be what he said he was.
The Scarecrow waved its white-cloth hands. Then, what... ? Ah, I see! Glinda is teaching me a lesson.
She thinks I m too naive she s right, I must admit and she s showing me what I should have done.
And what I must do in the future. That Glinda! She s the wise one, not me. I d say my brains were rotten
if I hadn t put in some new ones only yesterday.
It s hard to believe, Hank thought, but it s true. This thing replaced the cloths which made up its body,
the trousers and shirt and jacket and gloves, the sack on which its face was painted, the straw which
stuffed its body and hands, and the boots, the heaviest part of its body.
It also had put into the head a new mixture of bran and needles. What it called its brains. The mixture
that the punning charlatan, the Wizard Oz, said would make the Scarecrow sharp. Bran-new brains
mixed with needles. But that was what the Scarecrow wanted, believing that it was unintelligent,
brainless. Yet it had had from the beginning a great wisdom, though it was also uneducated and naive.
Hank shook his head. How could this being be alive? Except for the old tattered floppy-brimmed hat,
which was not a part of it, it was entirely new. A different entity from yesterday s. Fully replaced in
substance. But not in essence.
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