Part 21 (1/2)

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”Those letters express my degree,” answered the Woggle-Bug, with a condescending smile. ”To be more explicit, the initials mean that I am Thoroughly Educated.”

”Oh!” said the Scarecrow, much relieved.

Tip had not yet taken his eyes off this wonderful personage. What he saw was a great, round, buglike body supported upon two slender legs which ended in delicate feet--the toes curling upward. The body of the Woggle-Bug was rather flat, and judging from what could be seen of it was of a glistening dark brown color upon the back, while the front was striped with alternate bands of light brown and white, blending together at the edges. Its arms were fully as slender as its legs, and upon a rather long neck was perched its head--not unlike the head of a man, except that its nose ended in a curling antenna, or ”feeler,” and its ears from the upper points bore antennae that decorated the sides of its head like two miniature, curling pig tails. It must be admitted that the round, black eyes were rather bulging in appearance; but the expression upon the Woggle-Bug's face was by no means unpleasant.

For dress the insect wore a dark-blue swallowtail coat with a yellow silk lining and a flower in the b.u.t.ton-hole; a vest of white duck that stretched

145 tightly across the wide body; knickerbockers of fawn-colored plush, fastened at the knees with gilt buckles; and, perched upon its small head, was jauntily set a tall silk hat.

Standing upright before our amazed friends the Woggle-Bug appeared to be fully as tall as the Tin Woodman; and surely no bug in all the Land of Oz had ever before attained so enormous a size.

”I confess,” said the Scarecrow, ”that your abrupt appearance has caused me surprise, and no doubt has startled my companions. I hope, however, that this circ.u.mstance will not distress you. We shall probably get used to you in time.”

”Do not apologize, I beg of you!” returned the Woggle-Bug, earnestly. ”It affords me great pleasure to surprise people; for surely I cannot be cla.s.sed with ordinary insects and am ent.i.tled to both curiosity and admiration from those I meet.”

”You are, indeed,” agreed his Majesty.

”If you will permit me to seat myself in your august company,” continued the stranger, ”I will gladly relate my history, so that you will be better able to comprehend my unusual--may I say remarkable?--appearance.”

”You may say what you please,” answered the Tin Woodman, briefly.

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So the Woggle-Bug sat down upon the gra.s.s, facing the little group of wanderers, and told them the following story:

Line-Art Drawing

147 A Highly Magnified History

”It is but honest that I should acknowledge at the beginning of my recital that I was born an ordinary Woggle-Bug,” began the creature, in a frank and friendly tone. ”Knowing no better, I used my arms as well as my legs for walking, and crawled under the edges of stones or hid among the roots of gra.s.ses with no thought beyond finding a few insects smaller than myself to feed upon.

”The chill nights rendered me stiff and motionless, for I wore no clothing, but each morning the warm rays of the sun gave me new life and restored me to activity. A horrible existence is this, but you must remember it is the regular ordained existence of Woggle-Bugs, as well as of many other tiny creatures that inhabit the earth.

”But Destiny had singled me out, humble though I was, for a grander fate!

One day I crawled near

148 to a country school house, and my curiosity being excited by the monotonous hum of the students within, I made bold to enter and creep along a crack between two boards until I reached the far end, where, in front of a hearth of glowing embers, sat the master at his desk.

”No one noticed so small a creature as a Woggle-Bug, and when I found that the hearth was even warmer and more comfortable than the suns.h.i.+ne, I resolved to establish my future home beside it. So I found a charming nest between two bricks and hid myself therein for many, many months.

”Professor Nowitall is, doubtless, the most famous scholar in the land of Oz, and after a few days I began to listen to the lectures and discourses he gave his pupils. Not one of them was more attentive than the humble, unnoticed Woggle-Bug, and I acquired in this way a fund of knowledge that I will myself confess is simply marvelous. That is why I place 'T.E.'