Glinda of Oz
Page 10
CHAPTER 10
Under Water
When night fell all the interior of the Great Dome, streets andhouses, became lighted with brilliant incandescent lamps, whichrendered it bright as day. Dorothy thought the island must lookbeautiful by night from the outer shore of the lake. There was revelryand feasting in the Queen's palace, and the music of the royal bandcould be plainly heard in Lady Aurex's house, where Ozma and Dorothyremained with their hostess and keeper. They were prisoners, buttreated with much consideration.
Lady Aurex gave them a nice supper and when they wished to retireshowed them to a pretty room with comfortable beds and wished them agood night and pleasant dreams.
"What do you think of all this, Ozma?" Dorothy anxiously inquired whenthey were alone.
"I am glad we came," was the reply, "for although there may bemischief done to-morrow, it was necessary I should know about thesepeople, whose leaders are wild and lawless and oppress their subjectswith injustice and cruelties. My task, therefore, is to liberate theSkeezers and the Flatheads and secure for them freedom and happiness.I have no doubt I can accomplish this in time."
"Just now, though, we're in a bad fix," asserted Dorothy. "If QueenCoo-ee-oh conquers to-morrow, she won't be nice to us, and if theSu-dic conquers, he'll be worse."
"Do not worry, dear," said Ozma, "I do not think we are in danger,whatever happens, and the result of our adventure is sure to be good."
Dorothy was not worrying, especially. She had confidence in herfriend, the fairy Princess of Oz, and she enjoyed the excitement ofthe events in which she was taking part. So she crept into bed andfell asleep as easily as if she had been in her own cosy room inOzma's palace.
A sort of grating, grinding sound awakened her. The whole islandseemed to tremble and sway, as it might do in an earthquake. Dorothysat up in bed, rubbing her eyes to get the sleep out of them, and thenfound it was daybreak.
Ozma was hurriedly dressing herself.
"What is it?" asked Dorothy, jumping out of bed.
"I'm not sure," answered Ozma "but it feels as if the island issinking."
As soon as possible they finished dressing, while the creaking andswaying continued. Then they rushed into the living room of the houseand found Lady Aurex, fully dressed, awaiting them.
"Do not be alarmed," said their hostess. "Coo-ee-oh has decided tosubmerge the island, that is all. But it proves the Flatheads arecoming to attack us."
"What do you mean by sub-sub-merging the island?" asked Dorothy.
"Come here and see," was the reply.
Lady Aurex led them to a window which faced the side of the great domewhich covered all the village, and they could see that the island wasindeed sinking, for the water of the lake was already half way up theside of the dome. Through the glass could be seen swimming fishes, andtall stalks of swaying seaweeds, for the water was clear as crystaland through it they could distinguish even the farther shore of thelake.
"The Flatheads are not here yet," said Lady Aurex. "They will comesoon, but not until all of this dome is under the surface of thewater."
"Won't the dome leak?" Dorothy inquired anxiously.
"No, indeed."
"Was the island ever sub-sub-sunk before?"
"Oh, yes; on several occasions. But Coo-ee-oh doesn't care to do thatoften, for it requires a lot of hard work to operate the machinery.The dome was built so that the island could disappear. I think," shecontinued, "that our Queen fears the Flatheads will attack the islandand try to break the glass of the dome."
"Well, if we're under water, they can't fight us, and we can't fightthem," asserted Dorothy.
"They could kill the fishes, however," said Ozma gravely.
"We have ways to fight, also, even though our island is under water,"claimed Lady Aurex. "I cannot tell you all our secrets, but thisisland is full of surprises. Also our Queen's magic is astonishing."
"Did she steal it all from the three Adepts in Sorcery that are nowfishes?"
"She stole the knowledge and the magic tools, but she has used them asthe three Adepts never would have done."
By this time the top of the dome was quite under water and suddenlythe island stopped sinking and became stationary.
"See!" cried Lady Aurex, pointing to the shore. "The Flatheads havecome."
On the bank, which was now far above their heads, a crowd of darkfigures could be seen.
"Now let us see what Coo-ee-oh will do to oppose them," continued LadyAurex, in a voice that betrayed her excitement.
* * * * *
The Flatheads, pushing their way through the line of palm trees, hadreached the shore of the lake just as the top of the island's domedisappeared beneath the surface. The water now flowed from shore toshore, but through the clear water the dome was still visible and thehouses of the Skeezers could be dimly seen through the panes of glass.
"Good!" exclaimed the Su-dic, who had armed all his followers and hadbrought with him two copper vessels, which he carefully set down uponthe ground beside him. "If Coo-ee-oh wants to hide instead offighting our job will be easy, for in one of these copper vessels Ihave enough poison to kill every fish in the lake."
"Kill them, then, while we have time, and then we can go home again,"advised one of the chief officers.
"Not yet," objected the Su-dic. "The Queen of the Skeezers has defiedme, and I want to get her into my power, as well as to destroy hermagic. She transformed my poor wife into a Golden Pig, and I must haverevenge for that, whatever else we do."
"Look out!" suddenly exclaimed the officers, pointing into the lake;"something's going to happen."
From the submerged dome a door opened and something black shot swiftlyout into the water. The door instantly closed behind it and the darkobject cleaved its way through the water, without rising to thesurface, directly toward the place where the Flatheads were standing.
* * * * *
"What is that?" Dorothy asked the Lady Aurex.
"That is one of the Queen's submarines," was the reply. "It is allenclosed, and can move under water. Coo-ee-oh has several of theseboats which are kept in little rooms in the basement under ourvillage. When the island is submerged, the Queen uses these boats toreach the shore, and I believe she now intends to fight the Flatheadswith them."
The Su-dic and his people knew nothing of Coo-ee-oh's submarines, sothey watched with surprise as the under-water boat approached them.When it was quite near the shore it rose to the surface and the topparted and fell back, disclosing a boat full of armed Skeezers. At thehead was the Queen, standing up in the bow and holding in one hand acoil of magic rope that gleamed like silver.
The boat halted and Coo-ee-oh drew back her arm to throw the silverrope toward the Su-dic, who was now but a few feet from her. But thewily Flathead leader quickly realized his danger and before the Queencould throw the rope he caught up one of the copper vessels and dashedits contents full in her face!