Wicked Witch of the East

"You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins. We are so grateful to you for having killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and for setting our people free from bondage."

Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder. What could the little woman possibly mean by calling her a sorceress, and saying she had killed the wicked Witch of the East? Dorothy was an innocent, harmless little girl, who had been carried by a cyclone many miles from home; and she had never killed anything in all her life.

But the little woman evidently expected her to answer; so Dorothy said, with hesitation,

"You are very kind; but there must be some mistake. I have not killed anything."

"Your house did, anyway," replied the little old woman, with a laugh; "and that is the same thing. See!" she continued, pointing to the corner of the house; "there are her two toes, still sticking out from under a block of wood."

Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of fright. There, indeed, just under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet were sticking out, shod in silver shoes with pointed toes.

"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" cried Dorothy, clasping her hands together in dismay; "the house must have fallen on her. What ever shall we do?"

"There is nothing to be done," said the little woman, calmly.

"But who was she?" asked Dorothy.

"She was the Wicked Witch of the East, as I said," answered the little woman. "She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are all set free, and are grateful to you for the favor."

IMAGE CREDIT: Title: The Tin Woodman of Oz, A Faithful Story of the Astonishing Adventure Undertaken by the Tin Woodman, assisted by Woot the Wanderer, the Scarecrow of Oz, and Polychrome, the Rainbow's Daughter.

This Image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1923 are copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF from the U.S. Copyright Office. Works published before 1923, in this case 1918, are now in the public domain.

By Jonathan R. Neill (The Tin Woodman of Oz) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Author: L. Frank Baum, This Book is dedicated to the son of my son Frank Alden Baum. Illustrator: John R. Neill. The Reilly & Britton Co. Chicago. Copyright 1918 by L. Frank Baum. All rights reserved. Made in U. S. A.

TEXT CREDIT: The new Wizard of Oz Author: Lyman Frank Baum. Illustrated by: William Wallace Denslow. Publisher: Bobbs-Merrill, 1903. Length: 208 pages. Subjects: Courage. Determination (Personality trait) Dogs, Friendship, Gale, Dorothy (Fictitious character) Kansas, Love, Magic, Orphans, Oz (Imaginary place) Scarecrow (Fictitious character : Baum) Thought and thinking, Tin Woodman (Fictitious character) Witches, Wizard of Oz (Fictitious character) Wizards