الفصل الفصل 20 · A Puzzling Problem

. A Puzzling Problem

Glinda the Good, having decided to try her sorcery upon the abandoned

submarine, so that it would obey her commands, asked all of her party,

including the Skeezers, to withdraw from the shore of the lake to the

line of palm trees. She kept with her only the little Wizard of Oz, who

was her pupil and knew how to assist her in her magic rites. When they

two were alone beside the stranded boat, Glinda said to the Wizard:

"I shall first try my magic recipe No. 1163, which is intended to make

inanimate objects move at my command. Have you a skeropythrope with

you?"

"Yes, I always carry one in my bag," replied the Wizard. He opened his

black bag of magic tools and took out a brightly polished

skeropythrope, which he handed to the Sorceress. Glinda had also

brought a small wicker bag, containing various requirements of sorcery,

and from this she took a parcel of powder and a vial of liquid. She

poured the liquid into the skeropythrope and added the powder. At once

the skeropythrope began to sputter and emit sparks of a violet color,

which spread in all directions. The Sorceress instantly stepped into

the middle of the boat and held the instrument so that the sparks fell

all around her and covered every bit of the blackened steel boat. At

the same time Glinda crooned a weird incantation in the language of

sorcery, her voice sounding low and musical.

After a little the violet sparks ceased, and those that had fallen upon

the boat had disappeared and left no mark upon its surface. The

ceremony was ended and Glinda returned the skeropythrope to the Wizard,

who put it away in his black bag.

"That ought to do the business all right," he said confidently.

"Let us make a trial and see," she replied.

So they both entered the boat and seated themselves.

Speaking in a tone of command the Sorceress said to the boat: "Carry us

across the lake, to the farther shore."

At once the boat backed off the sandy beach, turned its prow and moved

swiftly over the water.

"Very good--very good indeed!" cried the Wizard, when the boat slowed

up at the shore opposite from that whence they had departed. "Even

Coo-ee-oh, with all her witchcraft, could do no better."

The Sorceress now said to the boat:

"Close up, submerge and carry us to the basement door of the sunken

island--the door from which you emerged at the command of Queen

Coo-ee-oh."

The boat obeyed. As it sank into the water the top sections rose from

the sides and joined together over the heads of Glinda and the Wizard,

who were thus enclosed in a water-proof chamber. There were four glass

windows in this covering, one on each side and one on either end, so

that the passengers could see exactly where they were going. Moving

under water more slowly than on the surface, the submarine gradually

approached the island and halted with its bow pressed against the huge

marble door in the basement under the Dome. This door was tightly

closed and it was evident to both Glinda and the Wizard that it would

not open to admit the underwater boat unless a magic word was spoken by

them or someone from within the basement of the island. But what was

this magic word? Neither of them knew.

"I'm afraid," said the Wizard regretfully, "that we can't get in, after

all. Unless your sorcery can discover the word to open the marble door."

"That is probably some word only known to Coo-ce-oh," replied the

Sorceress. "I may be able to discover what it is, but that will require

time. Let us go back again to our companions."

"It seems a shame, after we have made the boat obey us, to be balked by

just a marble door," grumbled the Wizard.

At Glinda's command the boat rose until it was on a level with the

glass dome that covered the Skeezer village, when the Sorceress made it

slowly circle all around the Great Dome.

Many faces were pressed against the glass from the inside, eagerly

watching the submarine, and in one place were Dorothy and Ozma, who

quickly recognized Glinda and the Wizard through the glass windows of

the boat. Glinda saw them, too, and held the boat close to the Dome

while the friends exchanged greetings in pantomime. Their voices,

unfortunately, could not be heard through the Dome and the water and

the side of the boat. The Wizard tried to make the girls understand,

through signs, that he and Glinda had come to their rescue, and Ozma

and Dorothy understood this from the very fact that the Sorceress and

the Wizard had appeared. The two girl prisoners were smiling and in

safety, and knowing this Glinda felt she could take all the time

necessary in order to effect their final rescue.

As nothing more could be done just then, Glinda ordered the boat to

return to shore and it obeyed readily. First it ascended to the surface

of the water, then the roof parted and fell into the slots at the side

of the boat, and then the magic craft quickly made the shore and

beached itself on the sands at the very spot from which it had departed

at Glinda's command. All the Oz people and the Skeezers at once ran to

the boat to ask if they had reached the island, and whether they had

seen Ozma and Dorothy. The Wizard told them of the obstacle they had

met in the way of a marble door, and how Glinda would now undertake to

find a magic way to conquer the door.

Realizing that it would require several days to succeed in reaching the

island raising it and liberating their friends and the Skeezer people,

Glinda now prepared a camp half way between the lake shore and the palm

trees.

The Wizard's wizardry made a number of tents appear and the sorcery of

the Sorceress furnished these tents all complete, with beds, chairs,

tables, flags, lamps and even books with which to pass idle hours. All

the tents had the Royal Banner of Oz flying from the centerpoles and

one big tent, not now occupied, had Ozma's own banner moving in the

breeze.

Betsy and Trot had a tent to themselves, and Button Bright and Ojo had

another. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman paired together in one tent

and so did Jack Pumpkinhead and the Shaggy Man, Cap'n Bill and Uncle

Henry, Tik-Tok and Professor Wogglebug. Glinda had the most splendid

tent of all, except that reserved for Ozma, while the Wizard had a

little one of his own. Whenever it was meal time, tables loaded with

food magically appeared in the tents of those who were in the habit of

eating, and these complete arrangements made the rescue party just

comfortable as they would have been in their own homes.

Far into the night Glinda sat in her tent studying a roll of mystic

scrolls in search of a word that would open the basement door of the

island and admit her to the Great Dome. She also made many magical

experiments, hoping to discover something that would aid her. Yet the

morning found the powerful Sorceress still unsuccessful.

Glinda's art could have opened any ordinary door, you may be sure, but

you must realize that this marble door of the island had been commanded

not to open save in obedience to one magic word, and therefore all

other magic words could have no effect upon it. The magic word that

guarded the door had probably been invented by Coo-ee-oh, who had now

forgotten it. The only way, then, to gain entrance to the sunken island

was to break the charm that held the door fast shut. If this could be

done no magic would be required to open it.

The next day the Sorceress and the Wizard again entered the boat and

made it submerge and go to the marble door, which they tried in various

ways to open, but without success.

"We shall have to abandon this attempt, I think," said Glinda. "The

easiest way to raise the island would be for us to gain admittance to

the Dome and then descend to the basement and see in what manner

Coo-ee-oh made the entire island sink or rise at her command. It

naturally occurred to me that the easiest way to gain admittance would

be by having the boat take us into the basement through the marble door

from which Coo-ee-oh launched it. But there must be other ways to get

inside the Dome and join Ozma and Dorothy, and such ways we must find

by study and the proper use of our powers of magic."

"It won't be easy," declared the Wizard, "for we must not forget that

Ozma herself understands considerable magic, and has doubtless tried to

raise the island or find other means of escape from it and failed."

"That is true," returned Glinda, "but Ozma's magic is fairy magic,

while you are a Wizard and I am a Sorceress. In this way the three of

us have a great variety of magic to work with, and if we should all

fail it will be because the island is raised and lowered by a magic

power none of us is acquainted with. My idea therefore is to seek--by

such magic as we possess--to accomplish our object in another way."

They made the circle of the Dome again in their boat, and once more saw

Ozma and Dorothy through their windows and exchanged signals with the

two imprisoned girls.

Ozma realized that her friends were doing all in their power to rescue

her and smiled an encouragement to their efforts. Dorothy seemed a

little anxious but was trying to be as brave as her companion.

After the boat had returned to the camp and Glinda was seated in her

tent, working out various ways by which Ozma and Dorothy could be

rescued, the Wizard stood on the shore dreamily eying the outlines of

the Great Dome which showed beneath the clear water, when he raised his

eyes and saw a group of strange people approaching from around the

lake. Three were young women of stately presence, very beautifully

dressed, who moved with remarkable grace. They were followed at a

little distance by a good-looking young Skeezer.

The Wizard saw at a glance that these people might be very important,

so he advanced to meet them. The three maidens received him graciously

and the one with the golden hair said:

"I believe you are the famous Wizard of Oz, of whom I have often heard.

We are seeking Glinda, the Sorceress, and perhaps you can lead us to

her."

"I can, and will, right gladly," answered the Wizard. "Follow me,

please."

The little Wizard was puzzled as to the identity of the three lovely

visitors but he gave no sign that might embarrass them.

He understood they did not wish to be questioned, and so he made no

remarks as he led the way to Glinda's tent.

With a courtly bow the Wizard ushered the three visitors into the

gracious presence of Glinda, the Good.