الفصل الفصل 12 · The Eleven Guesses

. The Eleven Guesses

Hearing this condition imposed by the Nome King, Ozma became silent and

thoughtful, and all her friends looked at her uneasily.

"Don't you do it!" exclaimed Dorothy. "If you guess wrong, you will be

enslaved yourself."

"But I shall have eleven guesses," answered Ozma. "Surely I ought to

guess one object in eleven correctly; and, if I do, I shall rescue one

of the royal family and be safe myself. Then the rest of you may

attempt it, and soon we shall free all those who are enslaved."

"What if we fail?" enquired the Scarecrow. "I'd look nice as a piece

of bric-a-brac, wouldn't I?"

"We must not fail!" cried Ozma, courageously. "Having come all this

distance to free these poor people, it would be weak and cowardly in us

to abandon the adventure. Therefore I will accept the Nome King's

offer, and go at once into the royal palace."

"Come along, then, my dear," said the King, climbing down from his

throne with some difficulty, because he was so fat; "I'll show you the

way."

He approached a wall of the cave and waved his hand. Instantly an

opening appeared, through which Ozma, after a smiling farewell to her

friends, boldly passed.

She found herself in a splendid hall that was more beautiful and grand

than anything she had ever beheld. The ceilings were composed of great

arches that rose far above her head, and all the walls and floors were

of polished marble exquisitely tinted in many colors. Thick velvet

carpets were on the floor and heavy silken draperies covered the arches

leading to the various rooms of the palace. The furniture was made of

rare old woods richly carved and covered with delicate satins, and the

entire palace was lighted by a mysterious rosy glow that seemed to come

from no particular place but flooded each apartment with its soft and

pleasing radiance.

Ozma passed from one room to another, greatly delighted by all she saw.

The lovely palace had no other occupant, for the Nome King had left her

at the entrance, which closed behind her, and in all the magnificent

rooms there appeared to be no other person.

Upon the mantels, and on many shelves and brackets and tables, were

clustered ornaments of every description, seemingly made out of all

sorts of metals, glass, china, stones and marbles. There were vases,

and figures of men and animals, and graven platters and bowls, and

mosaics of precious gems, and many other things. Pictures, too, were

on the walls, and the underground palace was quite a museum of rare and

curious and costly objects.

After her first hasty examination of the rooms Ozma began to wonder

which of all the numerous ornaments they contained were the

transformations of the royal family of Ev. There was nothing to guide

her, for everything seemed without a spark of life. So she must guess

blindly; and for the first time the girl came to realize how dangerous

was her task, and how likely she was to lose her own freedom in

striving to free others from the bondage of the Nome King. No wonder

the cunning monarch laughed good naturedly with his visitors, when he

knew how easily they might be entrapped.

But Ozma, having undertaken the venture, would not abandon it. She

looked at a silver candelabra that had ten branches, and thought: "This

may be the Queen of Ev and her ten children." So she touched it and

uttered aloud the word "Ev," as the Nome King had instructed her to do

when she guessed. But the candelabra remained as it was before.

Then she wandered into another room and touched a china lamb, thinking

it might be one of the children she sought. But again she was

unsuccessful. Three guesses; four guesses; five, six, seven, eight,

nine and ten she made, and still not one of them was right!

The girl shivered a little and grew pale even under the rosy light; for

now but one guess remained, and her own fate depended upon the result.

She resolved not to be hasty, and strolled through all the rooms once

more, gazing earnestly upon the various ornaments and trying to decide

which she would touch. Finally, in despair, she decided to leave it

entirely to chance. She faced the doorway of a room, shut her eyes

tightly, and then, thrusting aside the heavy draperies, she advanced

blindly with her right arm outstretched before her.

Slowly, softly she crept forward until her hand came in contact with an

object upon a small round table. She did not know what it was, but in

a low voice she pronounced the word "Ev."

The rooms were quite empty of life after that. The Nome King had

gained a new ornament. For upon the edge of the table rested a pretty

grasshopper, that seemed to have been formed from a single emerald. It

was all that remained of Ozma of Oz.

In the throne room just beyond the palace the Nome King suddenly looked

up and smiled.

"Next!" he said, in his pleasant voice.

Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, who had been sitting in

anxious silence, each gave a start of dismay and stared into one

another's eyes.

"Has she failed?" asked Tiktok.

"So it seems," answered the little monarch, cheerfully. "But that is

no reason one of you should not succeed. The next may have twelve

guesses, instead of eleven, for there are now twelve persons

transformed into ornaments. Well, well! Which of you goes next?"

"I'll go," said Dorothy.

"Not so," replied the Tin Woodman. "As commander of Ozma's army, it is

my privilege to follow her and attempt her rescue."

"Away you go, then," said the Scarecrow. "But be careful, old friend."

"I will," promised the Tin Woodman; and then he followed the Nome King

to the entrance to the palace and the rock closed behind him.