The MAGIC WORDS
any interesting things were to be seen in the Room of Magic, including much that had been stolen from the Adepts when they were transformed to fishes, but they had to admit that Coo-ee-oh had a rare genius for mechanics, and had used her knowledge in inventing a lot of mechanical apparatus that ordinary witches, wizards and sorcerers could not understand.
They all carefully inspected this room, taking care to examine every article they came across.
“The island,” said Glinda thoughtfully, “rests on a base of solid marble. When it is submerged, as it is now, the base of the island is upon the bottom of the lake. What puzzles me is how such a great weight can be lifted and suspended in the water, even by magic.”
“I now remember,” returned Aujah, “that one of the arts we taught Coo-ee-oh was the way to expand steel, and I think that explains how the island is raised and lowered. I noticed in the basement a big steel pillar that passed through the floor and extended upward to this palace. Perhaps the end of it is concealed in this very room. If the lower end of the steel pillar is firmly embedded in the bottom of the lake, Coo-ee-oh could utter a magic word that would make the pillar expand, and so lift the entire island to the level of the water.”
“I’ve found the end of the steel pillar. It’s just here,” announced the Wizard, pointing to one side of the room where a great basin of polished steel seemed to have been set upon the floor.
They all gathered around, and Ozma said:
“Yes, I am quite sure that is the upper end of the pillar that supports the island. I noticed it when I first came here. It has been hollowed out, you see, and something has been burned in the basin, for the fire has left its marks. I wondered what was under the great basin and got several of the Skeezers to come up here and try to lift it for me. They were strong men, but could not move it at all.”
“It seems to me,” said Audah the Adept, “that we have discovered the manner in which Coo-ee-oh raised the island. She would burn some sort of magic powder in the basin, utter the magic word, and the pillar would lengthen out and lift the island with it.”
“What’s this?” asked Dorothy, who had been searching around with the others, and now noticed a slight hollow in the wall, near to where the steel basin stood. As she spoke Dorothy pushed her thumb into the hollow and instantly a small drawer popped out from the wall.
The three Adepts, Glinda and the Wizard sprang forward and peered into the drawer. It was half filled with a greyish powder, the tiny grains of which constantly moved as if impelled by some living force.
“It may be some kind of radium,” said the Wizard.
“No,” replied Glinda, “it is more wonderful than even radium, for I recognize it as a rare mineral powder called Gaulau by the sorcerers. I wonder how Coo-ee-oh discovered it and where she obtained it.”
“There is no doubt,” said Aujah the Adept, “that this is the magic powder Coo-ee-oh burned in the basin. If only we knew the magic word, I am quite sure we could raise the island.”
“How can we discover the magic word?” asked Ozma, turning to Glinda as she spoke.
“That we must now seriously consider,” answered the Sorceress.
So all of them sat down in the Room of Magic and began to think. It was so still that after a while Dorothy grew nervous. The little girl never could keep silent for long, and at the risk of displeasing her magic-working friends she suddenly said:
“Well, Coo-ee-oh used just three magic words, one to make the bridge work, and one to make the submarines go out of their holes, and one to raise and lower the island. Three words. And Coo-ee-oh’s name is made up of just three words. One is ‘Coo,’ and one is ‘ee,’ and one is ‘oh.’ ”
The Wizard frowned but Glinda looked wonderingly at the young girl and Ozma cried out:
“A good thought, Dorothy dear! You may have solved our problem.”
“I believe it is worth a trial,” agreed Glinda. “It would be quite natural for Coo-ee-oh to divide her name into three magic syllables, and Dorothy’s suggestion seems like an inspiration.”
The three Adepts also approved the trial but the brown-haired one said:
“We must be careful not to use the wrong word, and send the bridge out under water. The main thing, if Dorothy’s idea is correct, is to hit upon the one word that moves the island.”
“Let us experiment,” suggested the Wizard.
In the drawer with the moving grey powder was a tiny golden cup, which they thought was used for measuring. Glinda filled this cup with the powder and carefully poured it into the shallow basin, which was the top of the great steel pillar supporting the island. Then Aurah the Adept lighted a taper and touched it to the powder, which instantly glowed fiery red and tumbled about the basin with astonishing energy. While the grains of powder still glowed red the Sorceress bent over it and said in a voice of command: “Coo!”
They waited motionless to see what would happen. There was a grating noise and a whirl of machinery, but the island did not move a particle.
Dorothy rushed to the window, which overlooked the glass side of the dome.
“The boats!” she exclaimed. “The boats are all loose an’ sailing under water.”
“We’ve made a mistake,” said the Wizard gloomily.
“But it’s one which shows we are on the right track,” declared Aujah the Adept. “We know now that Coo-ee-oh used the syllables of her name for the magic words.”
“If ‘Coo’ sends out the boats, it is probable that ‘ee’ works the bridge,” suggested Ozma. “So the last part of the name may raise the island.”
“Let us try that next then,” proposed the Wizard.
He scraped the embers of the burned powder out of the basin and Glinda again filled the golden cup from the drawer and placed it on top the steel pillar. Aurah lighted it with her taper and Ozma bent over the basin and murmured the long drawn syllable: “Oh-h-h!”
Instantly the island trembled and with a weird groaning noise it moved upward—slowly, very slowly, but with a steady motion, while all the company stood by in awed silence. It was a wonderful thing, even to those skilled in the arts of magic, wizardry and sorcery, to realize that a single word could raise that great, heavy island, with its immense glass Dome.
“Why, we’re way above the lake now!” exclaimed Dorothy from the window, when at last the island ceased to move.
“That is because we lowered the level of the water,” explained Glinda.
They could hear the Skeezers cheering lustily in the streets of the village as they realized that they were saved.
“Come,” said Ozma eagerly, “let us go down and join the people.”
“Not just yet,” returned Glinda, a happy smile upon her lovely face, for she was overjoyed at their success. “First let us extend the bridge to the mainland, where our friends from the Emerald City are waiting.”
It didn’t take long to put more powder in the basin, light it and utter the syllable “EE!” The result was that a door in the basement opened and the steel bridge moved out, extended itself joint by joint, and finally rested its far end on the shore of the lake just in front of the encampment.
“Now,” said Glinda, “we can go up and receive the congratulations of the Skeezers and of our friends of the Rescue Expedition.”
Across the water, on the shore of the lake, the Patchwork Girl was waving them a welcome.
Chapter 24
GLINDA’S TRIUMPH
f course all those who had joined Glinda’s expedition at once crossed the bridge to the island, where they were warmly welcomed by the Skeezers. Before all the concourse of people Princess Ozma made a speech from a porch of the palace and demanded that they recognize her as their lawful Ruler and promise to obey the laws of the Land of Oz. In return she agreed to protect them from all future harm and declared they would no longer be subjected to cruelty and abuse.
This pleased the Skeezers greatly, and when Ozma told them they might elect a Queen to r
ule over them, who in turn would be subject to Ozma of Oz, they voted for Lady Aurex, and that same day the ceremony of crowning the new Queen was held and Aurex was installed as mistress of the palace.
For her Prime Minister the Queen selected Ervic, for the three Adepts had told of his good judgment, faithfulness and cleverness, and all the Skeezers approved the appointment.
Glinda, the Wizard and the Adepts stood on the bridge and recited an incantation that quite filled the lake with water again, and the Scarecrow and the Patchwork Girl climbed to the top of the Great Dome and replaced the pane of glass that had been removed to allow Glinda and her followers to enter.
When evening came Ozma ordered a great feast prepared, to which every Skeezer was invited. The village was beautifully decorated and brilliantly lighted and there was music and dancing until a late hour to celebrate the liberation of the people. For the Skeezers had been freed, not only from the water of the lake but from the cruelty of their former Queen.
As the people from the Emerald City prepared the next morning to depart Queen Aurex said to Ozma:
“There is only one thing I now fear for my people, and that is the enmity of the terrible Su-dic of the Flatheads. He is liable to come here at any time and try to annoy us, and my Skeezers are peaceful folks and unable to fight the wild and wilful Flatheads.”
“Do not worry,” returned Ozma, reassuringly. “We intend to stop on our way at the Flatheads’ Enchanted Mountain and punish the Su-dic for his misdeeds.”
That satisfied Aurex and when Ozma and her followers trooped over the bridge to the shore, having taken leave of their friends, all the Skeezers cheered them and waved their hats and handkerchiefs, and the band played and the departure was indeed a ceremony long to be remembered.
The three Adepts at Magic, who had formerly ruled the Flatheads wisely and considerately, went with Princess Ozma and her people, for they had promised Ozma to stay on the mountain and again see that the laws were enforced.
Glinda had been told all about the curious Flatheads and she had consulted with the Wizard and formed a plan to render them more intelligent and agreeable.
When the party reached the mountain Ozma and Dorothy showed them how to pass around the invisible wall—which had been built by the Flatheads after the Adepts were transformed—and how to gain the up-and-down stairway that led to the mountain top.
The Su-dic had watched the approach of the party from the edge of the mountain and was frightened when he saw that the three Adepts had recovered their natural forms and were coming back to their former home. He realized that his power would soon be gone and yet he determined to fight to the last. He called all the Flatheads together and armed them, and told them to arrest all who came up the stairway and hurl them over the edge of the mountain to the plain below. But although they feared the Supreme Dictator, who had threatened to punish them if they did not obey his commands, as soon as they saw the three Adepts they threw down their arms and begged their former Rulers to protect them.
The three Adepts assured the excited Flatheads that they had nothing to fear.
Seeing that his people had rebelled the Su-dic ran away and tried to hide, but the Adepts found him and had him cast into a prison, all his cans of brains being taken away from him.
After this easy conquest of the Su-dic, Glinda told the Adepts of her plan, which had already been approved by Ozma of Oz, and they joyfully agreed to it. So, during the next few days, the great Sorceress transformed, in a way, every Flathead on the mountain.
Taking them one at a time, she had the can of brains that belonged to each one opened and the contents spread on the flat head, after which, by means of her arts of sorcery, she caused the head to grow over the brains—in the manner most people wear them—and they were thus rendered as intelligent and good looking as any of the other inhabitants of the Land of Oz.
When all had been treated in this manner there were no more Flatheads at all, and the Adepts decided to name their people Mountaineers. One good result of Glinda’s sorcery was that no one could now be deprived of the brains that belonged to him and each person had exactly the share he was entitled to.
Even the Su-dic was given his portion of brains and his flat head made round, like the others, but he was deprived of all power to work further mischief, and with the Adepts constantly watching him he would be forced to become obedient and humble.
The Golden Pig, which ran grunting about the streets, with no brains at all, was disenchanted by Glinda, and in her woman’s form was given brains and a round head. This wife of the Su-dic had once been even more wicked than her evil husband, but she had now forgotten all her wickedness and was likely to be a good woman thereafter.
These things being accomplished in a satisfactory manner, Princess Ozma and her people bade farewell to the three Adepts and departed for the Emerald City, well pleased with their interesting adventures.
They returned by the road over which Ozma and Dorothy had come, stopping to get the Sawhorse and the Red Wagon where they had left them.
“I’m very glad I went to see these peoples,” said Princess Ozma, “for I not only prevented any further warfare between them, but they have been freed from the rule of the Su-dic and Coo-ee-oh and are now happy and loyal subjects of the Land of Oz. Which proves that it is always wise to do one’s duty, however unpleasant that duty may seem to be.”
Contents
Author’s Note
Chapter 1: Professor Wogglebug’s Great Idea
Chapter 2: The Scarecrow’s Family Tree
Chapter 3: Down the Magic Bean Pole
Chapter 4: Dorothy’s Lonely Breakfast
Chapter 5: Sir Hokus of Pokes
Chapter 6: Singing Their Way out of Pokes
Chapter 7: The Scarecrow Is Hailed as Emperor!
Chapter 8: The Scarecrow Studies the Silver Islands
Chapter 9: “Save Us with Your Magic, Exalted One!”
Chapter 10: Princess Ozma and Betsy Bobbin Talk It Over
Chapter 11: Sir Hokus Overcometh the Giant
Chapter 12: Dorothy and Sir Hokus Come to Fix City
Chapter 13: Dancing Beds and the Roads That Unrolled
Chapter 14: Sons and Grandsons Greet the Scarecrow
Chapter 15: The Three Princes Plot to Undo the Emperor
Chapter 16: Dorothy and Her Guardians Meet New Friends
Chapter 17: Doubty and Camy Vanish into Space
Chapter 18: Dorothy Finds the Scarecrow!
Chapter 19: Planning to Fly from the Silver Islands
Chapter 20: Dorothy Upsets the Ceremony of the Island
Chapter 21: The Escape from the Silver Islands
Chapter 22: The Flight of the Parasol
Chapter 23: Safe at Last in the Land of OZ
Chapter 24: Homeward Bound to the Emerald City
About L. Frank Baum
A Note About Ruth Plumly Thompson
Ruth Plumly Thompson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and began her writing career in 1914 when she took a job with the Philadelphia Public Ledger. She was writing a weekly column for the newspaper and had authored a children’s book of her own when L. Frank Baum’s publisher, Reilly & Lee, approached her to continue the Oz series. L. Frank Baum had died in 1919, but the demand for new stories was still high. Between 1921 and 1939, Thompson wrote one Oz book a year, starting with The Royal Book of Oz, which was credited to Baum alone up until the 1980s.
Author’s Note
ear Children:
You will remember that, in the front part of Glinda of Oz, the Publishers told you that when Mr. Baum went away from this world he left behind some unfinished notes about the Princess Ozma and Dorothy and the jolly people of the Wonderful Land of Oz. The Publishers promised that they would try to put these notes together into a new Oz book for you.
Well, here it is—The Royal Book of Oz.
I am sure that Mr. Baum would be pleased that Ruth Plumly Thompson, who has known and loved the Oz stories ever
since she was a little girl, has made this new Oz story, with all the Oz folks in it and true to life.
You see I am Mrs. Baum, the wife of the Royal Historian of Oz, and so I know how he feels about everything.
Now, about the story:
Of course, we all knew the Scarecrow was a very fine fellow, but surely we never guessed he ascended from an emperor. Most of us descend from our ancestors, but the Scarecrow really ascended.
The Scarecrow had a most exciting and adventurous time on the Silver Isle, and Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion just ran out of one adventure into another trying to rescue him. They made some charming new friends in their travels—Sir Hokus of Pokes, the Doubtful Dromedary, and the Comfortable Camel. You’ll find them very unusual and likable. They have the same peculiar, delightful and informal natures that we love in all the queer Oz people.
This note is intended for all the children of America, who knew and loved Mr. Baum, and it goes to each of you with his love and mine.
Maud G. Baum
Ozcot
Hollywood, California
in the spring, 1921
Chapter 1
PROFESSOR WOGGLEBUG’S GREAT IDEA
he very thing!” exclaimed Professor Wogglebug, bounding into the air and upsetting his gold inkwell. “The very next idea!”
“Who, me?” A round-faced little Munchkin boy stuck his head in the door and regarded Professor Wogglebug solemnly. He was working his way through the Professor’s Athletic college, and one of his duties was to wait upon this eminent educator of Oz.
“Certainly not!” snapped Professor Wogglebug. “You’re a nobody or a nothing. Stop gaping and fetch me my hat. I’m off to the Emerald City. And mind the pupils take their history pills regularly while I’m gone,” he added, clapping his tall hat Zif held out to him on the back of his head.
“Yes, sir!” said the little Munchkin respectfully.
“Don’t hurry back, sir!” This last remark the Professor did not hear, for he was already half way down the college steps.
Oz, The Complete Collection Page 191
