The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Patchwork Girl of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

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Title: The Patchwork Girl of Oz

Author: L. Frank Baum

Posting Date: March 25, 2009 [EBook #955]
Release Date: June, 1997
Last Updated: March 2, 2002

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ ***

Produced by Anthony Matonac and Paul Selkirk

THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ

by

L. FRANK BAUM

Affectionately Dedicated to my young friend
Sumner Hamilton Britton of Chicago

Prologue

Through the kindness of Dorothy Gale of Kansas, afterward Princess
Dorothy of Oz, an humble writer in the United States of America was
once appointed Royal Historian of Oz, with the privilege of writing the
chronicle of that wonderful fairyland. But after making six books about
the adventures of those interesting but queer people who live in the
Land of Oz, the Historian learned with sorrow that by an edict of the
Supreme Ruler, Ozma of Oz, her country would thereafter be rendered
invisible to all who lived outside its borders and that all
communication with Oz would, in the future, be cut off.

The children who had learned to look for the books about Oz and who
loved the stories about the gay and happy people inhabiting that
favored country, were as sorry as their Historian that there would be
no more books of Oz stories. They wrote many letters asking if the
Historian did not know of some adventures to write about that had
happened before the Land of Oz was shut out from all the rest of the
world. But he did not know of any. Finally one of the children inquired
why we couldn't hear from Princess Dorothy by wireless telegraph, which
would enable her to communicate to the Historian whatever happened in
the far-off Land of Oz without his seeing her, or even knowing just
where Oz is.

That seemed a good idea; so the Historian rigged up a high tower in his
back yard, and took lessons in wireless telegraphy until he understood
it, and then began to call "Princess Dorothy of Oz" by sending messages
into the air.

Now, it wasn't likely that Dorothy would be looking for wireless
messages or would