CHAPTER 17
Under the Great Dome
When Glinda the Good and her followers of the Rescue Expedition camein sight of the Enchanted Mountain of the Flatheads, it was away tothe left of them, for the route they had taken through the GreatForest was some distance from that followed by Ozma and Dorothy.
They halted awhile to decide whether they should call upon the SupremeDictator first, or go on to the Lake of the Skeezers.
"If we go to the mountain," said the Wizard, "we may get into troublewith that wicked Su-dic, and then we would be delayed in rescuing Ozmaand Dorothy. So I think our best plan will be to go to the SkeezerCountry, raise the sunken island and save our friends and theimprisoned Skeezers. Afterward we can visit the mountain and punishthe cruel magician of the Flatheads."
"That is sensible," approved the Shaggy Man. "I quite agree with you."
The others, too, seemed to think the Wizard's plan the best, andGlinda herself commended it, so on they marched toward the line ofpalm trees that hid the Skeezers' lake from view.
Pretty soon they came to the palms. These were set closely together,the branches, which came quite to the ground, being so tightlyinterlaced that even the Glass Cat could scarcely find a place tosqueeze through. The path which the Flatheads used was some distanceaway.
"Here's a job for the Tin Woodman," said the Scarecrow.
So the Tin Woodman, who was always glad to be of use, set to work withhis sharp, gleaming axe, which he always carried, and in asurprisingly short time had chopped away enough branches to permitthem all to pass easily through the trees.
Now the clear waters of the beautiful lake were before them and bylooking closely they could see the outlines of the Great Dome of thesunken island, far from shore and directly in the center of the lake.
Of course every eye was at first fixed upon this dome, where Ozma andDorothy and the Skeezers were still fast prisoners. But soon theirattention was caught by a more brilliant sight, for here was theDiamond Swan swimming just before them, its long neck arched proudly,the amethyst eyes gleaming and all the diamond-sprinkled feathersglistening splendidly under the rays of the sun.
"That," said Glinda, "is the transformation of Queen Coo-ee-oh, thehaughty and wicked witch who betrayed the three Adepts at Magic andtreated her people like slaves."
"She's wonderfully beautiful now," remarked the Frogman.
"It doesn't seem like much of a punishment," said Trot. "The FlatheadSu-dic ought to have made her a toad."
"I am sure Coo-ee-oh is punished," said Glinda, "for she has lost allher magic power and her grand palace and can no longer misrule thepoor Skeezers."
"Let us call to her, and hear what she has to say," proposed theWizard.
So Glinda beckoned the Diamond Swan, which swam gracefully to aposition near them. Before anyone could speak Coo-ee-oh called tothem in a rasping voice--for the voice of a swan is always harsh andunpleasant--and said with much pride:
"Admire me, Strangers! Admire the lovely Coo-ee-oh, the handsomestcreature in all Oz. Admire me!"
"Handsome is as handsome does," replied the Scarecrow. "Are your deedslovely, Coo-ee-oh?"
"Deeds? What deeds can a swan do but swim around and give pleasure toall beholders?" said the sparkling bird.
"Have you forgotten your former life? Have you forgotten your magicand witchcraft?" inquired the Wizard.
"Magic--witchcraft? Pshaw, who cares for such silly things?" retortedCoo-ee-oh. "As for my past life, it seems like an unpleasant dream. Iwouldn't go back to it if I could. Don't you admire my beauty,Strangers?"
"Tell us, Coo-ee-oh," said Glinda earnestly, "if you can recall enoughof your witchcraft to enable us to raise the sunken island to thesurface of the lake. Tell us that and I'll give you a string of pearlsto wear around your neck and add to your beauty."
"Nothing can add to my beauty, for I'm the most beautiful creatureanywhere in the whole world."
"But how can we raise the island?"
"I don't know and I don't care. If ever I knew I've forgotten, and I'mglad of it," was the response. "Just watch me circle around and see meglitter!"
"It's no use," said Button Bright; "the old Swan is too much in lovewith herself to think of anything else."
"That's a fact," agreed Betsy with a sigh; "but we've got to get Ozmaand Dorothy out of that lake, somehow or other."
"And we must do it in our own way," added the Scarecrow.
"But how?" asked Uncle Henry in a grave voice, for he could not bearto think of his dear niece Dorothy being out there under water; "howshall we do it?"
"Leave that to Glinda," advised the Wizard, realizing he was helplessto do it himself.
"If it were just an ordinary sunken island," said the powerfulSorceress, "there would be several ways by which I might bring it tothe surface again. But this is a Magic Isle, and by some curious artof witchcraft, unknown to any but Queen Coo-ee-oh, it obeys certaincommands of magic and will not respond to any other. I do not despairin the least, but it will require some deep study to solve thisdifficult problem. If the Swan could only remember the witchcraft thatshe invented and knew as a woman, I could force her to tell me thesecret, but all her former knowledge is now forgotten."
"It seems to me," said the Wizard after a brief silence had followedGlinda's speech, "that there are three fishes in this lake that usedto be Adepts at Magic and from whom Coo-ee-oh stole much of herknowledge. If we could find those fishes and return them to theirformer shapes, they could doubtless tell us what to do to bring thesunken island to the surface."
"I have thought of those fishes," replied Glinda, "but among so manyfishes as this lake contains how are we to single them out?"
You will understand, of course, that had Glinda been at home in hercastle, where the Great Book of Records was, she would have known thatErvic the Skeezer already had taken the gold and silver and bronzefishes from the lake. But that act had been recorded in the Book afterGlinda had set out on this journey, so it was all unknown to her.
"I think I see a boat yonder on the shore," said Ojo the Munchkin boy,pointing to a place around the edge of the lake. "If we could getthat boat and row all over the lake, calling to the magic fishes, wemight be able to find them."
"Let us go to the boat," said the Wizard.
They walked around the lake to where the boat was stranded upon thebeach, but found it empty. It was a mere shell of blackened steel,with a collapsible roof that, when in position, made the submarinewater-tight, but at present the roof rested in slots on either side ofthe magic craft. There were no oars or sails, no machinery to make theboat go, and although Glinda promptly realized it was meant to beoperated by witchcraft, she was not acquainted with that sort ofmagic.
"However," said she, "the boat is merely a boat, and I believe I canmake it obey a command of sorcery, as well as it did the command ofwitchcraft. After I have given a little thought to the matter, theboat will take us wherever we desire to go."
"Not all of us," returned the Wizard, "for it won't hold so many. But,most noble Sorceress, provided you can make the boat go, of what usewill it be to us?"
"Can't we use it to catch the three fishes?" asked Button Bright.
"It will not be necessary to use the boat for that purpose," repliedGlinda. "Wherever in the lake the enchanted fishes may be, they willanswer to my call. What I am trying to discover is how the boat cameto be on this shore, while the island on which it belongs is underwater yonder. Did Coo-ee-oh come here in the boat to meet theFlatheads before the island was sunk, or afterward?"
No one could answer that question, of course; but while they ponderedthe matter three young men advanced from the line of trees, andrather timidly bowed to the strangers.
"Who are you, and where did you come from!" inquired the Wizard.
"We are Skeezers," answered one of them, "and our home is on the MagicIsle of the Lake. We ran away when we saw you coming, and hid behindthe trees, but as you are Strangers and seem to be friendly we decidedto mee
t you, for we are in great trouble and need assistance."
"If you belong on the island, why are you here?" demanded Glinda.
So they told her all the story: How the Queen had defied the Flatheadsand submerged the whole island so that her enemies could not get to itor destroy it; how, when the Flatheads came to the shore, Coo-ee-ohhad commanded them, together with their friend Ervic, to go with herin the submarine to conquer the Su-dic, and how the boat had shot outfrom the basement of the sunken isle, obeying a magic word, and risento the surface, where it opened and floated upon the water.
Then followed the account of how the Su-dic had transformed Coo-ee-ohinto a swan, after which she had forgotten all the witchcraft she everknew. The young men told how in the night when they were asleep,their comrade Ervic had mysteriously disappeared, while the boat insome strange manner had floated to the shore and stranded upon thebeach.
That was all they knew. They had searched in vain for three days forErvic. As their island was under water and they could not get back toit, the three Skeezers had no place to go, and so had waited patientlybeside their boat for something to happen.
Being questioned by Glinda and the Wizard, they told all they knewabout Ozma and Dorothy and declared the two girls were still in thevillage under the Great Dome. They were quite safe and would be wellcared for by Lady Aurex, now that the Queen who opposed them was outof the way.
When they had gleaned all the information they could from theseSkeezers, the Wizard said to Glinda:
"If you find you can make this boat obey your sorcery, you could haveit return to the island, submerge itself, and enter the door in thebasement from which it came. But I cannot see that our going to thesunken island would enable our friends to escape. We would only jointhem as prisoners."
"Not so, friend Wizard," replied Glinda. "If the boat would obey mycommands to enter the basement door, it would also obey my commands tocome out again, and I could bring Ozma and Dorothy back with me."
"And leave all of our people still imprisoned?" asked one of theSkeezers reproachfully.
"By making several trips in the boat, Glinda could fetch all yourpeople to the shore," replied the Wizard.
"But what could they do then?" inquired another Skeezer. "They wouldhave no homes and no place to go, and would be at the mercy of theirenemies, the Flatheads."
"That is true," said Glinda the Good. "And as these people are Ozma'ssubjects, I think she would refuse to escape with Dorothy and leavethe others behind, or to abandon the island which is the lawful homeof the Skeezers. I believe the best plan will be to summon the threefishes and learn from them how to raise the island."
The little Wizard seemed to think that this was rather a forlorn hope.
"How will you summon them," he asked the lovely Sorceress, "and howcan they hear you?"
"That is something we must consider carefully," responded statelyGlinda, with a serene smile. "I think I can find a way."
All of Ozma's counsellors applauded this sentiment, for they knewwell the powers of the Sorceress.
"Very well," agreed the Wizard. "Summon them, most noble Glinda."
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