Dorothy was amazed by this effrontery and defiance of the beautiful girl Ruler of Oz, whom all until now had obeyed without question. But Ozma, still unruffled and dignified, looked at the Su-dic and said:
“You did not mean that. You are angry and speak unwisely, without reflection. I came here from my palace in the Emerald City to prevent war and to make peace between you and the Skeezers. I do not approve of Queen Coo-ee-oh’s action in transforming your wife Rora into a pig, nor do I approve of Rora’s cruel attempt to poison the fishes in the lake. No one has the right to work magic in my dominions without my consent, so the Flatheads and the Skeezers have both broken my laws—which must be obeyed.”
“If you want to make peace,” said the Su-dic, “make the Skeezers restore my wife to her proper form and give back her four cans of brains. Also make them agree to allow us to catch fish in their lake.”
“No,” returned Ozma, “I will not do that, for it would be unjust. I will have the Golden Pig again transformed into your wife Rora, and give her one can of brains, but the other three cans must be restored to those she robbed. Neither may you catch fish in the Lake of the Skeezers, for it is their lake and the fish belong to them. This arrangement is just and honorable, and you must agree to it.”
“Never!” cried the Su-dic. Just then a pig came running into the room, uttering dismal grunts. It was made of solid gold, with joints at the bends of the legs and in the neck and jaws. The Golden Pig’s eyes were rubies, and its teeth were polished ivory.
“There!” said the Su-dic, “gaze on the evil work of Queen Coo-ee-oh, and then say if you can prevent my making war on the Skeezers. That grunting beast was once my wife—the most beautiful Flathead on our mountain and a skillful witch. Now look at her!”
“Fight the Skeezers, fight the Skeezers, fight the Skeezers!” grunted the Golden Pig.
“I will fight the Skeezers,” exclaimed the Flathead chief, “and if a dozen Ozmas of Oz forbade me I would fight just the same.”
“Not if I can prevent it!” asserted Ozma.
“You can’t prevent it. But since you threaten me, I’ll have you confined in the bronze prison until the war is over,” said the Su-dic. He whistled and four stout Flatheads, armed with axes and spears, entered the room and saluted him. Turning to the men he said: “Take these two girls, bind them with wire ropes and cast them into the bronze prison.”
The four men bowed low and one of them asked:
“Where are the two girls, most noble Su-dic?”
The Su-dic turned to where Ozma and Dorothy had stood but they had vanished!
Chapter 7
The MAGIC ISLE
zma, seeing it was useless to argue with the Supreme Dictator of the Flatheads, had been considering how best to escape from his power. She realized that his sorcery might be difficult to overcome, and when he threatened to cast Dorothy and her into a bronze prison she slipped her hand into her bosom and grasped her silver wand. With the other hand she grasped the hand of Dorothy, but these motions were so natural that the Su-dic did not notice them. Then when he turned to meet his four soldiers, Ozma instantly rendered both herself and Dorothy invisible and swiftly led her companion around the group of Flatheads and out of the room. As they reached the entry and descended the stone steps, Ozma whispered:
“Let us run, dear! We are invisible, so no one will see us.”
Dorothy understood and she was a good runner. Ozma had marked the place where the grand stairway that led to the plain was located, so they made directly for it. Some people were in the paths but these they dodged around. One or two Flatheads heard the pattering of footsteps of the girls on the stone pavement and stopped with bewildered looks to gaze around them, but no one interfered with the invisible fugitives.
The Su-dic had lost no time in starting the chase. He and his men ran so fast that they might have overtaken the girls before they reached the stairway had not the Golden Pig suddenly run across their path. The Su-dic tripped over the pig and fell flat, and his four men tripped over him and tumbled in a heap. Before they could scramble up and reach the mouth of the passage it was too late to stop the two girls.
There was a guard on each side of the stairway, but of course they did not see Ozma and Dorothy as they sped past and descended the steps. Then they had to go up five steps and down another ten, and so on, in the same manner in which they had climbed to the top of the mountain. Ozma lighted their way with her wand and they kept on without relaxing their speed until they reached the bottom. Then they ran to the right and turned the corner of the invisible wall just as the Su-dic and his followers rushed out of the arched entrance and looked around in an attempt to discover the fugitives.
Ozma now knew they were safe, so she told Dorothy to stop and both of them sat down on the grass until they could breathe freely and become rested from their mad flight.
As for the Su-dic, he realized he was foiled and soon turned and climbed his stairs again. He was very angry—angry with Ozma and angry with himself—because, now that he took time to think, he remembered that he knew very well the art of making people invisible, and visible again, and if he had only thought of it in time he could have used his magic knowledge to make the girls visible and so have captured them easily. However, it was now too late for regrets and he determined to make preparations at once to march all his forces against the Skeezers.
“What shall we do next?” asked Dorothy, when they were rested.
“Let us find the Lake of the Skeezers,” replied Ozma. “From what that dreadful Su-dic said I imagine the Skeezers are good people and worthy of our friendship, and if we go to them we may help them to defeat the Flatheads.”
“I s’pose we can’t stop the war now,” remarked Dorothy reflectively, as they walked toward the row of palm trees.
“No; the Su-dic is determined to fight the Skeezers, so all we can do is to warn them of their danger and help them as much as possible.”
“Of course you’ll punish the Flatheads,” said Dorothy.
“Well, I do not think the Flathead people are as much to blame as their Supreme Dictator,” was the answer. “If he is removed from power and his unlawful magic taken from him, the people will probably be good and respect the laws of the Land of Oz, and live at peace with all their neighbors in the future.”
“I hope so,” said Dorothy with a sigh of doubt.
The palms were not far from the mountain and the girls reached them after a brisk walk. The huge trees were set close together, in three rows, and had been planted so as to keep people from passing them, but the Flatheads had cut a passage through this barrier and Ozma found the path and led Dorothy to the other side.
Beyond the palms they discovered a very beautiful scene. Bordered by a green lawn was a great lake fully a mile from shore to shore, the waters of which were exquisitely blue and sparkling, with little wavelets breaking its smooth surface where the breezes touched it. In the center of this lake appeared a lovely island, not of great extent but almost entirely covered by a huge round building with glass walls and a high glass dome which glittered brilliantly in the sunshine. Between the glass building and the edge of the island was no grass, flowers or shrubbery, but only an expanse of highly polished white marble. There were no boats on either shore and no signs of life could be seen anywhere on the island.
“Well,” said Dorothy, gazing wistfully at the island, “we’ve found the Lake of the Skeezers and their Magic Isle. I guess the Skeezers are in that big glass palace, but we can’t get at ’em.”
Chapter 8
QUEEN COO-EE-OH
rincess Ozma considered the situation gravely. Then she tied her handkerchief to her wand and, standing at the water’s edge, waved the handkerchief like a flag, as a signal. For a time they could observe no response.
“I don’t see what good that will do,” said Dorothy. “Even if the Skeezers are on that island and see us, and know we’re friends, they haven’t any boats to come and get us.”
But the Skeezers didn’t need boats, as the girls soon discovered. For on a sudden an opening appeared at the base of the palace and from the opening came a slender shaft of steel, reaching out slowly but steadily across the water in the direction of the place where they stood. To the girls this steel arrangement looked like a triangle, with the base nearest the water. It came toward them in the form of an arch, stretching out from the palace wall until its end reached the bank and rested there, while the other end still remained on the island.
Then they saw that it was a bridge, consisting of a steel footway just broad enough to walk on, and two slender guide rails, one on either side, which were connected with the footway by steel bars. The bridge looked rather frail and Dorothy feared it would not bear their weight, but Ozma at once called, “Come on!” and started to walk across, holding fast to the rail on either side. So Dorothy summoned her courage and followed after. Before Ozma had taken three steps she halted and so forced Dorothy to halt, for the bridge was again moving and returning to the island.
“We need not walk after all,” said Ozma. So they stood still in their places and let the steel bridge draw them onward. Indeed, the bridge drew them well into the glass-domed building which covered the island, and soon they found themselves standing in a marble room where two handsomely dressed young men stood on a platform to receive them.
Ozma at once stepped from the end of the bridge to the marble platform, followed by Dorothy, and then the bridge disappeared with a slight clang of steel and a marble slab covered the opening from which it had emerged.
The two young men bowed profoundly to Ozma, and one of them said:
“Queen Coo-ee-oh bids you welcome, O Strangers. Her Majesty is waiting to receive you in her palace.”
“Lead on,” replied Ozma with dignity.
But instead of “leading on,” the platform of marble began to rise, carrying them upward through a square hole above which just fitted it. A moment later they found themselves within the great glass dome that covered almost all of the island.
Within this dome was a little village, with houses, streets, gardens and parks. The houses were of colored marbles, prettily designed, with many stained-glass windows, and the streets and gardens seemed well cared for. Exactly under the center of the lofty dome was a small park filled with brilliant flowers, with an elaborate fountain, and facing this park stood a building larger and more imposing than the others. Toward this building the young men escorted Ozma and Dorothy.
On the streets and in the doorways or open windows of the houses were men, women and children, all richly dressed. These were much like other people in different parts of the Land of Oz, except that instead of seeming merry and contented they all wore expressions of much solemnity or of nervous irritation. They had beautiful homes, splendid clothes, and ample food, but Dorothy at once decided something was wrong with their lives and that they were not happy. She said nothing, however, but looked curiously at the Skeezers.
At the entrance of the palace Ozma and Dorothy were met by two other young men, in uniform and armed with queer weapons that seemed about halfway between pistols and guns, but were like neither. Their conductors bowed and left them, and the two in uniforms led the girls into the palace.
In a beautiful Throne Room, surrounded by a dozen or more young men and women, sat the Queen of the Skeezers, Coo-ee-oh. She was a girl who looked older than Ozma or Dorothy—fifteen or sixteen, at least—and although she was elaborately dressed as if she were going to a ball she was too thin and plain of feature to be pretty. But evidently Queen Coo-ee-oh did not realize this fact, for her air and manner betrayed her as proud and haughty and with a high regard for her own importance. Dorothy at once decided she was “snippy” and that she would not like Queen Coo-ee-oh as a companion.
The Queen’s hair was as black as her skin was white and her eyes were black, too. The eyes, as she calmly examined Ozma and Dorothy, had a suspicious and unfriendly look in them, but she said quietly:
“I know who you are, for I have consulted my Magic Oracle, which told me that one calls herself Princess Ozma, the Ruler of all the Land of Oz, and the other is Princess Dorothy of Oz, who came from a country called Kansas. I know nothing of the Land of Oz, and I know nothing of Kansas.”
“Why, this is the Land of Oz!” cried Dorothy. “It’s a part of the Land of Oz, anyhow, whether you know it or not.”
“Oh, in-deed!” answered Queen Coo-ee-oh, scornfully. “I suppose you will claim next that this Princess Ozma, ruling the Land of Oz, rules me!”
“Of course,” returned Dorothy. “There’s no doubt of it.”
The Queen turned to Ozma.
“Do you dare make such a claim?” she asked.
By this time Ozma had made up her mind as to the character of this haughty and disdainful creature, whose self-pride evidently led her to believe herself superior to all others.
“I did not come here to quarrel with your Majesty,” said the girl Ruler of Oz, quietly. “What and who I am is well established, and my authority comes from the Fairy Queen Lurline, of whose band I was a member when Lurline made all Oz a Fairyland. There are several countries and several different peoples in this broad land, each of which has its separate Rulers, Kings, Emperors and Queens. But all these render obedience to my laws and acknowledge me as the supreme Ruler.”
“If other Kings and Queens are fools that does not interest me in the least,” replied Coo-ee-oh, disdainfully. “In the Land of the Skeezers I alone am supreme. You are impudent to think I would defer to you—or to anyone else.”
“Let us not speak of this now, please,” answered Ozma. “Your island is in danger, for a powerful foe is preparing to destroy it.”
“Pah! The Flatheads. I do not fear them.”
“Their Supreme Dictator is a Sorcerer.”
“My magic is greater than his. Let the Flatheads come! They will never return to their barren mountain-top. I will see to that.”
Ozma did not like this attitude, for it meant that the Skeezers were eager to fight the Flatheads, and Ozma’s object in coming here was to prevent fighting and induce the two quarrelsome neighbors to make peace. She was also greatly disappointed in Coo-ee-oh, for the reports of Su-dic had led her to imagine the Queen more just and honorable than were the Flatheads. Indeed Ozma reflected that the girl might be better at heart than her self-pride and overbearing manner indicated, and in any event it would be wise not to antagonize her but to try to win her friendship.
“I do not like wars, your Majesty,” said Ozma. “In the Emerald City, where I rule thousands of people, and in the countries near to the Emerald City, where thousands more acknowledge my rule, there is no army at all, because there is no quarreling and no need to fight. If differences arise between my people, they come to me and I judge the cases and award justice to all. So, when I learned there might be war between two faraway people of Oz, I came here to settle the dispute and adjust the quarrel.”
“No one asked you to come,” declared Queen Coo-ee-oh. “It is my business to settle this dispute, not yours. You say my island is a part of the Land of Oz, which you rule, but that is all nonsense, for I’ve never heard of the Land of Oz, nor of you. You say you are a fairy, and that fairies gave you command over me. I don’t believe it! What I do believe is that you are an impostor and have come here to stir up trouble among my people, who are already becoming difficult to manage. You two girls may even be spies of the vile Flatheads, for all I know, and may be trying to trick me. But understand this,” she added, proudly rising from her jeweled throne to confront them, “I have magic powers greater than any fairy possesses, and greater than any Flathead possesses. I am a Krumbic Witch—the only Krumbic Witch in the world—and I fear the magic of no other creature that exists! You say you rule thousands. I rule one hundred and one Skeezers. But every one of them trembles at my word. Now that Ozma of Oz and Princess Dorothy are here, I shall rule one hundred and three subjects, for you also shall bow before my power. More than t
hat, in ruling you I also rule the thousands you say you rule.”
Dorothy was very indignant at this speech.
“I’ve got a pink kitten that sometimes talks like that,” she said, “but after I give her a good whipping she doesn’t think she’s so high and mighty after all. If you only knew who Ozma is you’d be scared to death to talk to her like that!”
Queen Coo-ee-oh gave the girl a supercilious look. Then she turned again to Ozma.
“I happen to know,” said she, “that the Flatheads intend to attack us tomorrow, but we are ready for them. Until the battle is over, I shall keep you two strangers prisoners on my island, from which there is no chance for you to escape.”
She turned and looked around the band of courtiers who stood silently around her throne.
“Lady Aurex,” she continued, singling out one of the young women, “take these children to your house and care for them, giving them food and lodging. You may allow them to wander anywhere under the Great Dome, for they are harmless. After I have attended to the Flatheads I will consider what next to do with these foolish girls.”
She resumed her seat and the Lady Aurex bowed low and said in a humble manner:
“I obey your Majesty’s commands.” Then to Ozma and Dorothy she added, “Follow me,” and turned to leave the Throne Room.
Dorothy looked to see what Ozma would do. To her surprise and a little to her disappointment Ozma turned and followed Lady Aurex. So Dorothy trailed after them, but not without giving a parting, haughty look toward Queen Coo-ee-oh, who had her face turned the other way and did not see the disapproving look.
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