L. Frank Baum_Oz 14 (9 page)

"Couldn't we capture the Diamond Swan and make her tell the secrets?"
asked Dorothy.

"No; even were we able to capture her, Coo-ee-oh now has forgotten all
the magic she ever knew. But until we ourselves escape from this dome
we could not capture the Swan, and were we to escape we would have no
use for Coo-ee-oh's magic."

"That's a fact," admitted Dorothy. "But—say, Ozma, here's a good idea!
Couldn't we capture the three fishes—the gold and silver and bronze
ones, and couldn't you transform 'em back to their own shapes, and then
couldn't the three Adepts get us out of here?"

"You are not very practical, Dorothy dear. It would be as hard for us
to capture the three fishes, from among all the other fishes in the
lake, as to capture the Swan."

"But if we could, it would be more help to us," persisted the little
girl.

"That is true," answered Ozma, smiling at her friend's eagerness. "You
find a way to catch the fish, and I'll promise when they are caught to
restore them to their proper forms."

"I know you think I can't do it," replied Dorothy, "but I'm going to
try."

She left the palace and went to a place where she could look through a
clear pane of the glass dome into the surrounding water. Immediately
she became interested in the queer sights that met her view.

The Lake of the Skeezers was inhabited by fishes of many kinds and many
sizes. The water was so transparent that the girl could see for a long
distance and the fishes came so close to the glass of the dome that
sometimes they actually touched it. On the white sands at the bottom of
the lake were star-fish, lobsters, crabs and many shell fish of strange
shapes and with shells of gorgeous hues. The water foliage was of
brilliant colors and to Dorothy it resembled a splendid garden.

But the fishes were the most interesting of all. Some were big and
lazy, floating slowly along or lying at rest with just their fins
waving. Many with big round eyes looked full at the girl as she watched
them and Dorothy wondered if they could hear her through the glass if
she spoke to them. In Oz, where all the animals and birds can talk,
many fishes are able to talk also, but usually they are more stupid
than birds and animals because they think slowly and haven't much to
talk about.

In the Lake of the Skeezers the fish of smaller size were more active
than the big ones and darted quickly in and out among the swaying
weeds, as if they had important business and were in a hurry. It was
among the smaller varieties that Dorothy hoped to spy the gold and
silver and bronze fishes. She had an idea the three would keep
together, being companions now as they were in their natural forms, but
such a multitude of fishes constantly passed, the scene shifting every
moment, that she was not sure she would notice them even if they
appeared in view. Her eyes couldn't look in all directions and the
fishes she sought might be on the other side of the dome, or far away
in the lake.

"P'raps, because they were afraid of Coo-ee-oh, they've hid themselves
somewhere, and don't know their enemy has been transformed," she
reflected.

She watched the fishes for a long time, until she became hungry and
went back to the palace for lunch. But she was not discouraged.

"Anything new, Ozma?" she asked.

"No, dear. Did you discover the three fishes?"

"Not yet. But there isn't anything better for me to do, Ozma, so I
guess I'll go back and watch again."

Glinda, the Good, in her palace in the Quadling Country, had many
things to occupy her mind, for not only did she look after the weaving
and embroidery of her bevy of maids, and assist all those who came to
her to implore her help—beasts and birds as well as people—but she
was a close student of the arts of sorcery and spent much time in her
Magical Laboratory, where she strove to find a remedy for every evil
and to perfect her skill in magic.

Nevertheless, she did not forget to look in the Great Book of Records
each day to see if any mention was made of the visit of Ozma and
Dorothy to the Enchanted Mountain of the Flatheads and the Magic Isle
of the Skeezers. The Records told her that Ozma had arrived at the
mountain, that she had escaped, with her companion, and gone to the
island of the Skeezers, and that Queen Coo-ee-oh had submerged the
island so that it was entirely under water. Then came the statement
that the Flatheads had come to the lake to poison the fishes and that
their Supreme Dictator had transformed Queen Coo-ee-oh into a swan.

No other details were given in the Great Book and so Glinda did not
know that since Coo-ee-oh had forgotten her magic none of the Skeezers
knew how to raise the island to the surface again. So Glinda was not
worried about Ozma and Dorothy until one morning, while she sat with
her maids, there came a sudden clang of the great alarm bell. This was
so unusual that every maid gave a start and even the Sorceress for a
moment could not think what the alarm meant.

Then she remembered the ring she had given Dorothy when she left the
palace to start on her venture. In giving the ring Glinda had warned
the little girl not to use its magic powers unless she and Ozma were in
real danger, but then she was to turn it on her finger once to the
right and once to the left and Glinda's alarm bell would ring.

So the Sorceress now knew that danger threatened her beloved Ruler and
Princess Dorothy, and she hurried to her magic room to seek information
as to what sort of danger it was. The answer to her question was not
very satisfactory, for it was only: "Ozma and Dorothy are prisoners in
the great Dome of the Isle of the Skeezers, and the Dome is under the
water of the lake."

"Hasn't Ozma the power to raise the island to the surface?" inquired
Glinda.

"No," was the reply, and the Record refused to say more except that
Queen Coo-ee-oh, who alone could command the island to rise, had been
transformed by the Flathead Su-dic into a Diamond Swan.

Then Glinda consulted the past records of the Skeezers in the Great
Book. After diligent search she discovered that Coo-ee-oh was a
powerful sorceress who had gained most of her power by treacherously
transforming the Adepts of Magic, who were visiting her, into three
fishes—gold, silver and bronze—after which she had them cast into the
lake.

Glinda reflected earnestly on this information and decided that someone
must go to Ozma's assistance. While there was no great need of haste,
because Ozma and Dorothy could live in a submerged dome a long time, it
was evident they could not get out until someone was able to raise the
island.

The Sorceress looked through all her recipes and books of sorcery, but
could find no magic that would raise a sunken island. Such a thing had
never before been required in sorcery. Then Glinda made a little
island, covered by a glass dome, and sunk it in a pond near her castle,
and experimented in magical ways to bring it to the surface. She made
several such experiments, but all were failures. It seemed a simple
thing to do, yet she could not do it.

Nevertheless, the wise Sorceress did not despair of finding a way to
liberate her friends. Finally she concluded that the best thing to do
was to go to the Skeezer country and examine the lake. While there she
was more likely to discover a solution to the problem that bothered
her, and to work out a plan for the rescue of Ozma and Dorothy.

So Glinda summoned her storks and her aerial chariot, and telling her
maids she was going on a journey and might not soon return, she entered
the chariot and was carried swiftly to the Emerald City.

In Princess Ozma's palace the Scarecrow was now acting as Ruler of the
Land of Oz. There wasn't much for him to do, because all the affairs of
state moved so smoothly, but he was there in case anything unforeseen
should happen.

Glinda found the Scarecrow playing croquet with Trot and Betsy Bobbin,
two little girls who lived at the palace under Ozma's protection and
were great friends of Dorothy and much loved by all the Oz people.

"Something's happened!" cried Trot, as the chariot of the Sorceress
descended near them. "Glinda never comes here 'cept something's gone
wrong."

"I hope no harm has come to Ozma, or Dorothy," said Betsy anxiously, as
the lovely Sorceress stepped down from her chariot.

Glinda approached the Scarecrow and told him of the dilemma of Ozma and
Dorothy and she added: "We must save them, somehow, Scarecrow."

"Of course," replied the Scarecrow, stumbling over a wicket and falling
flat on his painted face.

The girls picked him up and patted his straw stuffing into shape, and
he continued, as if nothing had occurred: "But you'll have to tell me
what to do, for I never have raised a sunken island in all my life."

"We must have a Council of State as soon as possible," proposed the
Sorceress. "Please send messengers to summon all of Ozma's counsellors
to this palace. Then we can decide what is best to be done."

The Scarecrow lost no time in doing this. Fortunately most of the royal
counsellors were in the Emerald City or near to it, so they all met in
the throne room of the palace that same evening.

No Ruler ever had such a queer assortment of advisers as the Princess
Ozma had gathered about her throne. Indeed, in no other country could
such amazing people exist. But Ozma loved them for their peculiarities
and could trust every one of them.

First there was the Tin Woodman. Every bit of him was tin, brightly
polished. All his joints were kept well oiled and moved smoothly. He
carried a gleaming axe to prove he was a woodman, but seldom had cause
to use it because he lived in a magnificent tin castle in the Winkie
Country of Oz and was the Emperor of all the Winkies. The Tin Woodman's
name was Nick Chopper. He had a very good mind, but his heart was not
of much account, so he was very careful to do nothing unkind or to hurt
anyone's feelings.

Another counsellor was Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of Oz, who was made
of a gaudy patchwork quilt, cut into shape and stuffed with cotton.
This Patchwork Girl was very intelligent, but so full of fun and mad
pranks that a lot of more stupid folks thought she must be crazy.
Scraps was jolly under all conditions, however grave they might be, but
her laughter and good spirits were of value in cheering others and in
her seemingly careless remarks much wisdom could often be found.

Then there was the Shaggy Man—shaggy from head to foot, hair and
whiskers, clothes and shoes—but very kind and gentle and one of Ozma's
most loyal supporters.

Tik-Tok was there, a copper man with machinery inside him, so cleverly
constructed that he moved, spoke and thought by three separate
clock-works. Tik-Tok was very reliable because he always did exactly
what he was wound up to do, but his machinery was liable to run down at
times and then he was quite helpless until wound up again.

A different sort of person was Jack Pumpkinhead, one of Ozma's oldest
friends and her companion on many adventures. Jack's body was very
crude and awkward, being formed of limbs of trees of different sizes,
jointed with wooden pegs. But it was a substantial body and not likely
to break or wear out, and when it was dressed the clothes covered much
of its roughness. The head of Jack Pumpkinhead was, as you have
guessed, a ripe pumpkin, with the eyes, nose and mouth carved upon one
side. The pumpkin was stuck on Jack's wooden neck and was liable to get
turned sidewise or backward and then he would have to straighten it
with his wooden hands.

The worst thing about this sort of a head was that it did not keep well
and was sure to spoil sooner or later. So Jack's main business was to
grow a field of fine pumpkins each year, and always before his old head
spoiled he would select a fresh pumpkin from the field and carve the
features on it very neatly, and have it ready to replace the old head
whenever it became necessary. He didn't always carve it the same way,
so his friends never knew exactly what sort of an expression they would
find on his face. But there was no mistaking him, because he was the
only pumpkin-headed man alive in the Land of Oz.

A one-legged sailor-man was a member of Ozma's council. His name was
Cap'n Bill and he had come to the Land of Oz with Trot, and had been
made welcome on account of his cleverness, honesty and good nature. He
wore a wooden leg to replace the one he had lost and was a great friend
of all the children in Oz because he could whittle all sorts of toys
out of wood with his big jack-knife.

Professor H. M. Wogglebug, T. E., was another member of the council.
The "H. M." meant Highly Magnified, for the Professor was once a little
bug, who became magnified to the size of a man and always remained so.
The "T. E." meant that he was Thoroughly Educated. He was at the head
of Princess Ozma's Royal Athletic College, and so that the students
would not have to study and so lose much time that could be devoted to
athletic sports, such as football, baseball and the like, Professor
Wogglebug had invented the famous Educational Pills. If one of the
college students took a Geography Pill after breakfast, he knew his
geography lesson in an instant; if he took a Spelling Pill he at once
knew his spelling lesson, and an Arithmetic Pill enabled the student to
do any kind of sum without having to think about it.

These useful pills made the college very popular and taught the boys
and girls of Oz their lessons in the easiest possible way. In spite of
this, Professor Wogglebug was not a favorite outside his college, for
he was very conceited and admired himself so much and displayed his
cleverness and learning so constantly, that no one cared to associate
with him. Ozma found him of value in her councils, nevertheless.