Complete Works of L. Frank Baum

by L. Frank Baum

  “I s’pose Coo-ee-oh will fight the Flatheads with all her might,” observed Dorothy.

  “And with all her magic,” added Ozma, thoughtfully.

  “I do not see how the Flatheads can get to this island to hurt us,” said Lady Aurex.

  “They have bows and arrows, and I guess they mean to shoot the arrows at your big dome, and break all the glass in it,” suggested Dorothy.

  But Lady Aurex shook her head with a smile.

  “They cannot do that,” she replied.

  “Why not?”

  “I dare not tell you why, but if the Flatheads come to-morrow morning you will yourselves see the reason.”

  “I do not think they will attempt to harm the island,” Ozma declared. “I believe they will first

  attempt to destroy the fishes, by poison or some other means. If they succeed in that, the conquest of the island will not be difficult.”

  “They have no boats,” said Lady Aurex, “and Coo-ee-oh, who has long expected this war, has been preparing for it in many astonishing ways. I almost wish the Flatheads would conquer us, for then we would be free from our dreadful Queen; but I do not wish to see the three transformed fishes destroyed, for in them lies our only hope of future happiness.”

  “Ozma will take care of you, whatever happens,” Dorothy assured her. But the Lady Aurex, not knowing the extent of Ozma’s power — which was, in fact, not so great as Dorothy imagined — could not take much comfort in this promise.

  It was evident there would be exciting times on the morrow, if the Flatheads really attacked the Skeezers of the Magic Isle.

  CHAPTER 10

  Under Water

  When night fell all the interior of the Great Dome, streets and houses, became lighted with brilliant incandescent lamps, which rendered it bright as day. Dorothy thought the island must look beautiful by night from the outer shore of the lake. There was revelry and feasting in the Queen’s palace, and the music of the royal band could be plainly heard in Lady Aurex’s house, where Ozma and Dorothy remained with their hostess and keeper. They were prisoners, but treated with much consideration.

  Lady Aurex gave them a nice supper and when they wished to retire showed them to a pretty room with comfortable beds and wished them a good night and pleasant dreams.

  “What do you think of all this, Ozma?” Dorothy anxiously inquired when they were alone.

  “I am glad we came,” was the reply, “for although there may be mischief done to-morrow, it was necessary I should know about these people, whose leaders are wild and lawless and oppress their subjects with injustice and cruelties. My task, therefore, is to liberate the Skeezers 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 Queen Coo-ee-oh conquers to-morrow, she won’t be nice to us, and if the Su-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 her friend, the fairy Princess of Oz, and she enjoyed the excitement of the events in which she was taking part. So she crept into bed and fell asleep as easily as if she had been in her own cosy room in Ozma’s palace.

  A sort of grating, grinding sound awakened her. The whole island seemed to tremble and sway, as it might do in an earthquake. Dorothy sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes to get the sleep out of them, and then found 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 is sinking.”

  As soon as possible they finished dressing, while the creaking and swaying continued. Then they rushed into the living room of the house and found Lady Aurex, fully dressed, awaiting them.

  “Do not be alarmed,” said their hostess. “Coo-ee-oh has decided to submerge the island, that is all. But it proves the Flatheads are coming 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 dome which covered all the village, and they could see that the island was indeed sinking, for the water of the lake was already half way up the side of the dome. Through the glass could be seen swimming fishes, and tall stalks of swaying seaweeds, for the water was clear as crystal and through it they could distinguish even the farther shore of the lake.

  “The Flatheads are not here yet,” said Lady Aurex. “They will come soon, but not until all of this dome is under the surface of the water.”

  “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 that often, for it requires a lot of hard work to operate the machinery. The dome was built so that the island could disappear. I think,” she continued, “that our Queen fears the Flatheads will attack the island and try to break the glass of the dome.”

  “Well, if we’re under water, they can’t fight us, and we can’t fight them,” 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 this island is full of surprises. Also our Queen’s magic is astonishing.”

  “Did she steal it all from the three Adepts in Sorcery that are now fishes?”

  “She stole the knowledge and the magic tools, but she has used them as the three Adepts never would have done.”

  By this time the top of the dome was quite under water and suddenly the island stopped sinking and became stationary.

  “See!” cried Lady Aurex, pointing to the shore. “The Flatheads have come.”

  On the bank, which was now far above their heads, a crowd of dark figures could be seen.

  “Now let us see what Coo-ee-oh will do to oppose them,” continued Lady Aurex, in a voice that betrayed her excitement.

  The Flatheads, pushing their way through the line of palm trees, had reached the shore of the lake just as the top of the island’s dome disappeared beneath the surface. The water now flowed from shore to shore, but through the clear water the dome was still visible and the houses of the Skeezers could be dimly seen through the panes of glass.

  “Good!” exclaimed the Su-dic, who had armed all his followers and had brought with him two copper vessels, which he carefully set down upon the ground beside him. “If Coo-ee-oh wants to hide instead of fighting our job will be easy, for in one of these copper vessels I have 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 defied me, and I want to get her into my power, as well as to destroy her magic. She transformed my poor wife into a Golden Pig, and I must have revenge 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 swiftly out into the water. The door instantly closed behind it and the dark object cleaved its way through the water, without rising to the surface, 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 all enclosed, and can move under water. Coo-ee-oh has several of these boats which are kept in little rooms in the basement under our village. When the island is submerged, the Queen uses these boats to reach the shore, and
I believe she now intends to fight the Flatheads with them.”

  The Su-dic and his people knew nothing of Coo-ee-oh’s submarines, so they watched with surprise as the under-water boat approached them. When it was quite near the shore it rose to the surface and the top parted and fell back, disclosing a boat full of armed Skeezers. At the head was the Queen, standing up in the bow and holding in one hand a coil of magic rope that gleamed like silver.

  The boat halted and Coo-ee-oh drew back her arm to throw the silver rope toward the Su-dic, who was now but a few feet from her. But the wily Flathead leader quickly realized his danger and before the Queen could throw the rope he caught up one of the copper vessels and dashed its contents full in her face!

  CHAPTER 11

  The Conquest of the Skeezers

  Queen Coo-ee-oh dropped the rope, tottered and fell headlong into the water, sinking beneath the surface, while the Skeezers in the submarine were too bewildered to assist her and only stared at the ripples in the water where she had disappeared. A moment later there arose to the surface a beautiful White Swan. This Swan was of large size, very gracefully formed, and scattered all over its white feathers were tiny diamonds, so thickly placed that as the rays of the morning sun fell upon them the entire body of the Swan glistened like one brilliant diamond. The head of the Diamond Swan had a bill of polished gold and its eyes were two sparkling amethysts.

  “Hooray!” cried the Su-dic, dancing up and down with wicked glee. “My poor wife, Rora, is avenged at last. You made her a Golden Pig, Coo-ee-oh, and now I have made you a Diamond Swan. Float on your lake forever, if you like, for your web feet can do no more magic and you are as powerless as the Pig you made of my wife!”

  “Villain! Scoundrel!” croaked the Diamond Swan. “You will be punished for this. Oh, what a fool I was to let you enchant me!”

  “A fool you were, and a fool you are!” laughed the Su-dic, dancing madly in his delight. And then he carelessly tipped over the other copper vessel with his heel and its contents spilled on the sands and were lost to the last drop.

  The Su-dic stopped short and looked at the overturned vessel with a rueful countenance.

  “That’s too bad — too bad!” he exclaimed sorrowfully. “I’ve lost all the poison I had to kill the fishes with, and I can’t make any more because only my wife knew the secret of it, and she is now a foolish Pig and has forgotten all her magic.”

  “Very well,” said the Diamond Swan scornfully, as she floated upon the water and swam gracefully here and there. “I’m glad to see you are foiled. Your punishment is just beginning, for although you have enchanted me and taken away my powers of sorcery you have still the three magic fishes to deal with, and they’ll destroy you in time, mark my words.”

  The Su-dic stared at the Swan a moment. Then he yelled to his men:

  “Shoot her! Shoot the saucy bird!”

  They let fly some arrows at the Diamond Swan, but she dove under the water and the missiles fell harmless. When Coo-ee-oh rose to the surface she was far from the shore and she swiftly swam across the lake to where no arrows or spears could reach her.

  The Su-dic rubbed his chin and thought what to do next. Near by floated the submarine in which the Queen had come, but the Skeezers who were in it were puzzled what to do with themselves. Perhaps they were not sorry their cruel mistress had been transformed into a Diamond Swan, but the transformation had left them quite helpless. The under-water boat was not operated by machinery, but by certain mystic words uttered by Coo-ee-oh. They didn’t know how to submerge it, or how to make the water-tight shield cover them again, or how to make the boat go back to the castle, or make it enter the little basement room where it was usually kept. As a matter of fact, they were now shut out of their village under the Great Dome and could not get back again. So one of the men called to the Supreme Dictator of the Flatheads, saying:

  “Please make us prisoners and take us to your mountain, and feed and keep us, for we have nowhere to go.”

  Then the Su-dic laughed and answered:

  “Not so. I can’t be bothered by caring for a lot of stupid Skeezers. Stay where you are, or go wherever you please, so long as you keep away from our mountain.” He turned to his men and added: “We have conquered Queen Coo-ee-oh and made her a helpless swan. The Skeezers are under water and may stay there. So, having won the war, let us go home again and make merry and feast, having after many years proved the Flatheads to be greater and more powerful than the Skeezers.”

  So the Flatheads marched away and passed through the row of palms and went back to their mountain, where the Su-dic and a few of his officers feasted and all the others were forced to wait on them.

  “I’m sorry we couldn’t have roast pig,” said the Su-dic, “but as the only pig we have is made of gold, we can’t eat her. Also the Golden Pig happens to be my wife, and even were she not gold I am sure she would be too tough to eat.”

  CHAPTER 12

  The Diamond Swan

  When the Flatheads had gone away the Diamond Swan swam back to the boat and one of the young Skeezers named Ervic said to her eagerly:

  “How can we get back to the island, your Majesty?”

  “Am I not beautiful?” asked Coo-ee-oh, arching her neck gracefully and spreading her diamond-sprinkled wings. “I can see my reflection in the water, and I’m sure there is no bird nor beast, nor human as magnificent as I am!”

  “How shall we get back to the island, your Majesty?” pleaded Ervic.

  “When my fame spreads throughout the land, people will travel from all parts of this lake to look upon my loveliness,” said Coo-ee-oh, shaking her feathers to make the diamonds glitter more brilliantly.

  “But, your Majesty, we must go home and we do not know how to get there,” Ervic persisted.

  “My eyes,” remarked the Diamond Swan, “are wonderfully blue and bright and will charm all beholders.”

  “Tell us how to make the boat go — how to get back into the island,” begged Ervic and the others cried just as earnestly: “Tell us, Coo-ee-oh; tell us!”

  “I don’t know,” replied the Queen in a careless tone.

  “You are a magic-worker, a sorceress, a witch!”

  “I was, of course, when I was a girl,” she said, bending her head over the clear water to catch her reflection in it; “but now I’ve forgotten all such foolish things as magic. Swans are lovelier than girls, especially when they’re sprinkled with diamonds. Don’t you think so?” And she gracefully swam away, without seeming to care whether they answered or not.

  Ervic and his companions were in despair. They saw plainly that Coo-ee-oh could not or would not help them. The former Queen had no further thought for her island, her people, or her wonderful magic; she was only intent on admiring her own beauty.

  “Truly,” said Ervic, in a gloomy voice, “the Flatheads have conquered us!”

  Some of these events had been witnessed by Ozma and Dorothy and Lady Aurex, who had left the house and gone close to the glass of the dome, in order to see what was going on. Many of the Skeezers had also crowded against the dome, wondering what would happen next. Although their vision was to an extent blurred by the water and the necessity of looking upward at an angle, they had observed the main points of the drama enacted above. They saw Queen Coo-ee-oh’s submarine come to the surface and open; they saw the Queen standing erect to throw her magic rope; they saw her sudden transformation into a Diamond Swan, and a cry of amazement went up from the Skeezers inside the dome.

  “Good!” exclaimed Dorothy. “I hate that old Su-dic, but I’m glad Coo-ee-oh is punished.”

  “This is a dreadful misfortune!” cried Lady Aurex, pressing her hands upon her heart.

  “Yes,” agreed Ozma, nodding her head thoughtfully; “Coo-ee-oh’s misfortune will prove a terrible blow to her people.”

  “What do you mean by that?” asked Dorothy in surprise. “Seems to me the Skeezers are in luck to lose their cruel Queen.”

  “If that were all y
ou would be right,” responded Lady Aurex; “and if the island were above water it would not be so serious. But here we all are, at the bottom of the lake, and fast prisoners in this dome.”

  “Can’t you raise the island?” inquired Dorothy.

  “No. Only Coo-ee-oh knew how to do that,” was the answer.

  “We can try,” insisted Dorothy. “If it can be made to go down, it can be made to come up. The machinery is still here, I suppose.

  “Yes; but the machinery works by magic, and Coo-ee-oh would never share her secret power with any one of us.”

  Dorothy’s face grew grave; but she was thinking.

  “Ozma knows a lot of magic,” she said.

  “But not that kind of magic,” Ozma replied.

  “Can’t you learn how, by looking at the machinery?”

  “I’m afraid not, my dear. It isn’t fairy magic at all; it is witchcraft.”

  “Well,” said Dorothy, turning to Lady Aurex, “you say there are other sub-sub-sinking boats. We can get in one of those, and shoot out to the top of the water, like Coo-ee-oh did, and so escape. And then we can help to rescue all the Skeezers down here.”

  “No one knows how to work the under-water boats but the Queen,” declared Lady Aurex.

  “Isn’t there any door or window in this dome that we could open?”

  “No; and, if there were, the water would rush in to flood the dome, and we could not get out.”

  “The Skeezers,” said Ozma, “could not drown; they only get wet and soggy and in that condition they would be very uncomfortable and unhappy. But you are a mortal girl, Dorothy, and if your Magic Belt protected you from death you would have to lie forever at the bottom of the lake.”

  “No, I’d rather die quickly,” asserted the little girl. “But there are doors in the basement that open — to let out the bridges and the boats — and that would not flood the dome, you know.”