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Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank), 1856-1919

"The Scarecrow of Oz"

" Of course witches are
forbidden to exist in the Land of Oz, but Jinxland was so
far removed from the center of Ozma's dominions, and so
absolutely cut off from it by the steep mountains and the
bottomless gulf, that the laws of Oz were not obeyed very
well in that country. So there were several witches in
Jinxland who were the terror of the people, but King
Krewl favored them and permitted them to exercise their
evil sorcery.
Blinkie was the leader of all the other witches and
therefore the most hated and feared. The King used her
witchcraft at times to assist him in carrying out his
cruelties and revenge, but he was always obliged to pay
Blinkie large sums of money or heaps of precious jewels
before she would undertake an enchantment. This made him
hate the old woman almost as much as his subjects did,
but to-day Lord Googly-Goo had agreed to pay the witch's
price, so the King greeted her with gracious favor.
"Can you destroy the love of Princess Gloria for the
gardener's boy?" inquired his Majesty.
The Wicked Witch thought about it before she replied:
"That's a hard question to answer.


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