CHAPTER 12
The Diamond Swan
When the Flatheads had gone away the Diamond Swan swam back to theboat 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 andspreading her diamond-sprinkled wings. "I can see my reflection in thewater, and I'm sure there is no bird nor beast, nor human asmagnificent 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 allparts 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 getthere," Ervic persisted.
"My eyes," remarked the Diamond Swan, "are wonderfully blue and brightand 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 overthe clear water to catch her reflection in it; "but now I'veforgotten all such foolish things as magic. Swans are lovelier thangirls, especially when they're sprinkled with diamonds. Don't youthink so?" And she gracefully swam away, without seeming to carewhether they answered or not.
Ervic and his companions were in despair. They saw plainly thatCoo-ee-oh could not or would not help them. The former Queen had nofurther 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 conqueredus!"
* * * * *
Some of these events had been witnessed by Ozma and Dorothy and LadyAurex, 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 alsocrowded against the dome, wondering what would happen next. Althoughtheir vision was to an extent blurred by the water and the necessityof looking upward at an angle, they had observed the main points ofthe drama enacted above. They saw Queen Coo-ee-oh's submarine come tothe surface and open; they saw the Queen standing erect to throw hermagic 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 gladCoo-ee-oh is punished."
"This is a dreadful misfortune!" cried Lady Aurex, pressing her handsupon her heart.
"Yes," agreed Ozma, nodding her head thoughtfully; "Coo-ee-oh'smisfortune 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 you would be right," responded Lady Aurex; "and ifthe island were above water it would not be so serious. But here weall 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 canbe made to come up. The machinery is still here, I suppose.
"Yes; but the machinery works by magic, and Coo-ee-oh would nevershare 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 iswitchcraft."
"Well," said Dorothy, turning to Lady Aurex, "you say there are othersub-sub-sinking boats. We can get in one of those, and shoot out tothe top of the water, like Coo-ee-oh did, and so escape. And then wecan 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 andsoggy and in that condition they would be very uncomfortable andunhappy. But _you_ are a mortal girl, Dorothy, and if your Magic Beltprotected you from death you would have to lie forever at the bottomof the lake."
"No, I'd rather die quickly," asserted the little girl. "But thereare doors in the basement that open--to let out the bridges and theboats--and that would not flood the dome, you know."
"Those doors open by a magic word, and only Coo-ee-oh knows the wordthat must be uttered," said Lady Aurex.
"Dear me!" exclaimed Dorothy, "that dreadful Queen's witchcraft upsetsall my plans to escape. I guess I'll give it up, Ozma, and let _you_save us."
Ozma smiled, but her smile was not so cheerful as usual. The Princessof Oz found herself confronted with a serious problem, and althoughshe had no thought of despairing she realized that the Skeezers andtheir island, as well as Dorothy and herself, were in grave troubleand that unless she could find a means to save them they would be lostto the Land of Oz for all future time.
"In such a dilemma," said she, musingly, "nothing is gained by haste.Careful thought may aid us, and so may the course of events. Theunexpected is always likely to happen, and cheerful patience is betterthan reckless action."
"All right," returned Dorothy; "take your time, Ozma; there's nohurry. How about some breakfast, Lady Aurex?"
Their hostess led them back to the house, where she ordered hertrembling servants to prepare and serve breakfast. All the Skeezerswere frightened and anxious over the transformation of their Queeninto a swan. Coo-ee-oh was feared and hated, but they had depended onher magic to conquer the Flatheads and she was the only one who couldraise their island to the surface of the lake again.
Before breakfast was over several of the leading Skeezers came toAurex to ask her advice and to question Princess Ozma, of whom theyknew nothing except that she claimed to be a fairy and the Ruler ofall the land, including the Lake of the Skeezers.
"If what you told Queen Coo-ee-oh was the truth," they said to her,"you are our lawful mistress, and we may depend on you to get us outof our difficulties."
"I will try to do that," Ozma graciously assured them, "but you mustremember that the powers of fairies are granted them to bring comfortand happiness to all who appeal to them. On the contrary, such magicas Coo-ee-oh knew and practiced is unlawful witchcraft and her artsare such as no fairy would condescend to use. However, it is sometimesnecessary to consider evil in order to accomplish good, and perhaps bystudying Coo-ee-oh's tools and charms of witchcraft I may be able tosave us. Do you promise to accept me as your Ruler and to obey mycommands?"
They promised willingly.
"Then," continued Ozma, "I will go to Coo-ee-oh's palace and takepossession of it. Perhaps what I find there will be of use to me. Inthe meantime tell all the Skeezers to fear nothing, but have patience.Let them return to their homes and perform their daily tasks as usual.Coo-ee-oh's loss may not prove a misfortune, but rather a blessing."
This speech cheered the Skeezers amazingly. Really, they had no onenow to depend upon but Ozma, and in spite of their dangerous positiontheir hearts were lightened by the transformation and absence of theircruel Queen.
They got out their brass band and a grand procession escorted Ozma andDorothy to the palace, where all of Coo-ee-oh's former servants wereeager to wait upon them. Ozma invited Lady Aurex to stay at the palacealso, for she knew all about the Skeezers and their island and hadalso been a favorite of the former Queen, so her advice andinformation were sure to prove valuable.
Ozma was somewhat disappointed
in what she found in the palace. Oneroom of Coo-ee-oh's private suite was entirely devoted to the practiceof witchcraft, and here were countless queer instruments and jars ofointments and bottles of potions labeled with queer names, and strangemachines that Ozma could not guess the use of, and pickled toads andsnails and lizards, and a shelf of books that were written in blood,but in a language which the Ruler of Oz did not know.
"I do not see," said Ozma to Dorothy, who accompanied her in hersearch, "how Coo-ee-oh knew the use of the magic tools she stole fromthe three Adept Witches. Moreover, from all reports these Adeptspracticed only good witchcraft, such as would be helpful to theirpeople, while Coo-ee-oh performed only evil."
"Perhaps she turned the good things to evil uses?" suggested Dorothy.
"Yes, and with the knowledge she gained Coo-ee-oh doubtless inventedmany evil things quite unknown to the good Adepts, who are nowfishes," added Ozma. "It is unfortunate for us that the Queen kept hersecrets so closely guarded, for no one but herself could use any ofthese strange things gathered in this room."
"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 allthe magic she ever knew. But until we ourselves escape from this domewe could not capture the Swan, and were we to escape we would have nouse for Coo-ee-oh's magic."
"That's a fact," admitted Dorothy. "But--say, Ozma, here's a goodidea! Couldn't we capture the three fishes--the gold and silver andbronze 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 usto capture the three fishes, from among all the other fishes in thelake, as to capture the Swan."
"But if we could, it would be more help to us," persisted the littlegirl.
"That is true," answered Ozma, smiling at her friend's eagerness. "Youfind a way to catch the fish, and I'll promise when they are caught torestore them to their proper forms."
"I know you think I can't do it," replied Dorothy, "but I'm going totry."
She left the palace and went to a place where she could look through aclear pane of the glass dome into the surrounding water. Immediatelyshe became interested in the queer sights that met her view.
The Lake of the Skeezers was inhabited by fishes of many kinds andmany sizes. The water was so transparent that the girl could see for along distance and the fishes came so close to the glass of the domethat sometimes they actually touched it. On the white sands at thebottom of the lake were star-fish, lobsters, crabs and many shell fishof strange shapes and with shells of gorgeous hues. The water foliagewas of brilliant colors and to Dorothy it resembled a splendid garden.
But the fishes were the most interesting of all. Some were big andlazy, floating slowly along or lying at rest with just their finswaving. Many with big round eyes looked full at the girl as shewatched them and Dorothy wondered if they could hear her through theglass if she spoke to them. In Oz, where all the animals and birds cantalk, many fishes are able to talk also, but usually they are morestupid than birds and animals because they think slowly and haven'tmuch to talk about.
In the Lake of the Skeezers the fish of smaller size were more activethan the big ones and darted quickly in and out among the swayingweeds, as if they had important business and were in a hurry. It wasamong the smaller varieties that Dorothy hoped to spy the gold andsilver and bronze fishes. She had an idea the three would keeptogether, being companions now as they were in their natural forms,but such a multitude of fishes constantly passed, the scene shiftingevery moment, that she was not sure she would notice them even if theyappeared in view. Her eyes couldn't look in all directions and thefishes she sought might be on the other side of the dome, or far awayin the lake.
"P'raps, because they were afraid of Coo-ee-oh, they've hid themselvessomewhere, and don't know their enemy has been transformed," shereflected.
She watched the fishes for a long time, until she became hungry andwent 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 Iguess I'll go back and watch again."
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