18. The Trial of Eureka the Kitten

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

by L. Frank Baum

Several days of festivity and merry-making followed, for such old
friends did not often meet and there was much to be told and talked
over between them, and many amusements to be enjoyed in this
delightful country.

Ozma was happy to have Dorothy beside her, for girls of her own
age with whom it was proper for the Princess to associate were very
few, and often the youthful Ruler of Oz was lonely for lack of
companionship.

It was the third morning after Dorothy's arrival, and she was
sitting with Ozma and their friends in a reception room, talking over
old times, when the Princess said to her maid:

"Please go to my boudoir, Jellia, and get the white piglet I
left on the dressing-table. I want to play with it."

Jellia at once departed on the errand, and she was gone so long
that they had almost forgotten her mission when the green robed
maiden returned with a troubled face.

"The piglet is not there, your Highness," said she.

"Not there!" exclaimed Ozma. "Are you sure?"

"I have hunted in every part of the room," the maid replied.

"Was not the door closed?" asked the Princess.

"Yes, your Highness; I am sure it was; for when I opened it
Dorothy's white kitten crept out and ran up the stairs."

Hearing this, Dorothy and the Wizard exchanged startled glances,
for they remembered how often Eureka had longed to eat a piglet. The
little girl jumped up at once.

"Come, Ozma," she said, anxiously; "let us go ourselves to
search for the piglet."

So the two went to the dressing-room of the Princess and
searched carefully in every corner and among the vases and baskets
and ornaments that stood about the pretty boudoir. But not a trace
could they find of the tiny creature they sought.

Dorothy was nearly weeping, by this time, while Ozma was angry
and indignant. When they returned to the others the Princess
said:

"There is little doubt that my pretty piglet has been eaten by
that horrid kitten, and if that is true the offender must be
punished."

"I don't b'lieve Eureka would do such a dreadful thing!" cried
Dorothy, much distressed. "Go and get my kitten, please, Jellia, and
we'll hear what she has to say about it."

The green maiden hastened away, but presently returned and
said:

"The kitten will not come. She threatened to scratch my eyes
out if I touched her."

"Where is she?" asked Dorothy.

"Under the bed in your own room," was the reply.

So Dorothy ran to her room and found the kitten under the
bed.

"Come here, Eureka!" she said.

"I won't," answered the kitten, in a surly voice.

"Oh, Eureka! Why are you so bad?"

The kitten did not reply.

"If you don't come to me, right away," continued Dorothy,
getting provoked, "I'll take my Magic Belt and wish you in the
Country of the Gurgles."

"Why do you want me?" asked Eureka, disturbed by this threat.

"You must go to Princess Ozma. She wants to talk to you."

"All right," returned the kitten, creeping out. "I'm not afraid
of Ozma--or anyone else."

Dorothy carried her in her arms back to where the others sat in
grieved and thoughtful silence.

"Tell me, Eureka," said the Princess, gently: "did you eat my
pretty piglet?"

"I won't answer such a foolish question," asserted Eureka, with
a snarl.

"Oh, yes you will, dear," Dorothy declared. "The piglet is
gone, and you ran out of the room when Jellia opened the door. So,
if you are innocent, Eureka, you must tell the Princess how you came
to be in her room, and what has become of the piglet."

"Who accuses me?" asked the kitten, defiantly.

"No one," answered Ozma. "Your actions alone accuse you. The
fact is that I left my little pet in my dressing-room lying asleep
upon the table; and you must have stolen in without my knowing it.
When next the door was opened you ran out and hid yourself--and the
piglet was gone."

"That's none of my business," growled the kitten.

"Don't be impudent, Eureka," admonished Dorothy.

"It is you who are impudent," said Eureka, "for accusing me of
such a crime when you can't prove it except by guessing."

Ozma was now greatly incensed by the kitten's conduct. She
summoned her Captain-General, and when the long, lean officer
appeared she said:

"Carry this cat away to prison, and keep her in safe confinement
until she is tried by law for the crime of murder."

So the Captain-General took Eureka from the arms of the now
weeping Dorothy and in spite of the kitten's snarls and scratches
carried it away to prison.

"What shall we do now?" asked the Scarecrow, with a sigh, for
such a crime had cast a gloom over all the company.

"I will summon the Court to meet in the Throne Room at three
o'clock," replied Ozma. "I myself will be the judge, and the kitten
shall have a fair trial."

"What will happen if she is guilty?" asked Dorothy.

"She must die," answered the Princess.

"Nine times?" enquired the Scarecrow.

"As many times as is necessary," was the reply. "I will ask the
Tin Woodman to defend the prisoner, because he has such a kind heart
I am sure he will do his best to save her. And the Woggle-Bug shall
be the Public Accuser, because he is so learned that no one can
deceive him."

"Who will be the jury?" asked the Tin Woodman.

"There ought to be several animals on the jury," said Ozma,
"because animals understand each other better than we people
understand them. So the jury shall consist of the Cowardly Lion, the
Hungry Tiger, Jim the Cab-horse, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the
Wizard, Tik-tok the Machine Man, the Sawhorse and Zeb of Hugson's
Ranch. That makes the nine which the law requires, and all my people
shall be admitted to hear the testimony."

They now separated to prepare for the sad ceremony; for whenever
an appeal is made to law sorrow is almost certain to follow--even in
a fairyland like Oz. But is must be stated that the people of that
Land were generally so well-behaved that there was not a single
lawyer amongst them, and it had been years since any Ruler had sat in
judgment upon an offender of the law. The crime of murder being the
most dreadful crime of all, tremendous excitement prevailed in the
Emerald City when the news of Eureka's arrest and trial became
known.

The Wizard, when he returned to his own room, was exceedingly
thoughtful. He had no doubt Eureka had eaten his piglet, but he
realized that a kitten cannot be depended upon at all times to act
properly, since its nature is to destroy small animals and even birds
for food, and the tame cat that we keep in our houses today is
descended from the wild cat of the jungle--a very ferocious creature,
indeed. The Wizard knew that if Dorothy's pet was found guilty and
condemned to death the little girl would be made very unhappy; so,
although he grieved over the piglet's sad fate as much as any of
them, he resolved to save Eureka's life.

Sending for the Tin Woodman the Wizard took him into a corner
and whispered:

"My friend, it is your duty to defend the white kitten and try
to save her, but I fear you will fail because Eureka has long wished
to eat a piglet, to my certain knowledge, and my opinion is that she
has been unable to resist the temptation. Yet her disgrace and death
would not bring back the piglet, but only serve to make Dorothy
unhappy. So I intend to prove the kitten's innocence by a trick."

He drew from his inside pocket one of the eight tiny piglets
that were remaining and continued:

"This creature you must hide in some safe place, and if the jury
decides that Eureka is guilty you may then produce this piglet and
claim it is the one that was lost. All the piglets are exactly
alike, so no one can dispute your word. This deception will save
Eureka's life, and then we may all be happy again."

"I do not like to deceive my friends," replied the Tin Woodman;
"still, my kind heart urges me to save Eureka's life, and I can
usually trust my heart to do the right thing. So I will do as you
say, friend Wizard."

After some thought he placed the little pig inside his
funnel-shaped hat, and then put the hat upon his head and went back
to his room to think over his speech to the jury.