9. They Fight the Invisible Bears

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      The strangers took their seats at the table willingly enough, for they were all hungry and the platters were now heaped with good things to eat. In front of each place was a plate bearing one of the delicious dama-fruit, and the perfume that rose from these was so enticing and sweet that they were sorely tempted to eat of them and become invisible.

      But Dorothy satisfied her hunger with other things, and her companions did likewise, resisting the temptation.

      “Why do you not eat the damas?” asked the woman’s voice.

      “We don’t want to get invis’ble,” answered the girl.

      “But if you remain visible the bears will see you and devour you,” said a girlish young voice, that belonged to one of the children. “We who live here much prefer to be invisible; for we can still hug and kiss one another, and are quite safe from the bears.”

      “And we do not have to be so particular about our dress,” remarked the man.

      “And mama can’t tell whether my face is dirty or not!” added the other childish voice, gleefully.

      “But I make you wash it, every time I think of it,” said the mother; “for it stands to reason your face is dirty, Ianu, whether I can see it or not.”

      Dorothy laughed and stretched out her hands.

      “Come here, please—Ianu and your sister—and let me feel of you,” she requested.

      They came to her willingly, and Dorothy passed her hands over their faces and forms and decided one was a girl of about her own age and the other a boy somewhat smaller. The girl’s hair was soft and fluffy and her skin as smooth as satin. When Dorothy gently touched her nose and ears and lips they seemed to be well and delicately formed.

      “If I could see you I am sure you would be beautiful,” she declared.

      The girl laughed, and her mother said:

      “We are not vain in the Valley of Voe, because we can not display our beauty, and good actions and pleasant ways are what make us lovely to our companions. Yet we can see and appreciate the beauties of nature, the dainty flowers and trees, the green fields and the clear blue of the sky.”

      “How about the birds and beasts and fishes?” asked Zeb.

      “The birds we cannot see, because they love to eat of the damas as much as we do; yet we hear their sweet songs and enjoy them. Neither can we see the cruel bears, for they also eat the fruit. But the fishes that swim in our brooks we can see, and often we catch them to eat.”

      “It occurs to me you have a great deal to make you happy, even while invisible,” remarked the Wizard. “Nevertheless, we prefer to remain visible while we are in your valley.”

      Just then Eureka came in, for she had been until now wandering outside with Jim; and when the kitten saw the table set with food she cried out:

      “Now you must feed me, Dorothy, for I’m half starved.”

      The children were inclined to be frightened by the sight of the small animal, which reminded them of the bears; but Dorothy reassured them by explaining that Eureka was a pet and could do no harm even if she wished to. Then, as the others had by this time moved away from the table, the kitten sprang upon the chair and put her paws upon the cloth to see what there was to eat. To her surprise an unseen hand clutched her and held her suspended in the air. Eureka was frantic with terror, and tried to scratch and bite, so the next moment she was dropped to the floor.

      “Did you see that, Dorothy?” she gasped.

      “Yes, dear,” her mistress replied; “there are people living in this house, although we cannot see them. And you must have better manners, Eureka, or something worse will happen to you.”

      She placed a plate of food upon the floor and the kitten ate greedily.

      “Give me that nice-smelling fruit I saw on the table,” she begged, when she had cleaned the plate.

      “Those are damas,” said Dorothy, “and you must never even taste them, Eureka, or you’ll get invis’ble, and then we can’t see you at all.”

      The kitten gazed wistfully at the forbidden fruit.

      “Does it hurt to be invis’ble?” she asked.

      “I don’t know,” Dorothy answered; “but it would hurt me dre’fully to lose you.”

      “Very well, I won’t touch it,” decided the kitten; “but you must keep it away from me, for the smell is very tempting.”

      “Can you tell us, sir or ma’am,” said the Wizard, addressing the air because he did not quite know where the unseen people stood, “if there is any way we can get out of your beautiful Valley, and on top of the Earth again.”

      “Oh, one can leave the Valley easily enough,” answered the man’s voice; “but to do so you must enter a far less pleasant country. As for reaching the top of the earth, I have never heard that it is possible to do that, and if you succeeded in getting there you would probably fall off.”

      “Oh, no,” said Dorothy, “we’ve been there, and we know.”

      “The Valley of Voe is certainly a charming place,” resumed the Wizard; “but we cannot be contented in any other land than our own, for long. Even if we should come to unpleasant places on our way it is necessary, in order to reach the earth’s surface, to keep moving on toward it.”

      “In that case,” said the man, “it will be best for you to cross our Valley and mount the spiral staircase inside the Pyramid Mountain. The top of that mountain is lost in the clouds, and when you reach it you will be in the awful Land of Naught, where the Gargoyles live.”

      “What are Gargoyles?” asked Zeb.

      “I do not know, young sir. Our greatest Champion, Overman-Anu, once climbed the spiral stairway and fought nine days with the Gargoyles before he could escape them and come back; but he could never be induced to describe the dreadful creatures, and soon afterward a bear caught him and ate him up.”

      The wanders were rather discouraged by this gloomy report, but Dorothy said with a sigh:

      “If the only way to get home is to meet the Gurgles, then we’ve got to meet ‘em.