Chương Chương 17 · Under the Great Dome

. Under the Great Dome

When Glinda the Good and her followers of the Rescue Expedition came in

sight of the Enchanted Mountain of the Flatheads, it was away to the

left of them, for the route they had taken through the Great Forest was

some distance from that followed by Ozma and Dorothy.

They halted awhile to decide whether they should call upon the Supreme

Dictator first, or go on to the Lake of the Skeezers.

"If we go to the mountain," said the Wizard, "we may get into trouble

with that wicked Su-dic, and then we would be delayed in rescuing Ozma

and Dorothy. So I think our best plan will be to go to the Skeezer

Country, raise the sunken island and save our friends and the

imprisoned Skeezers. Afterward we can visit the mountain and punish the

cruel magician of the Flatheads."

"That is sensible," approved the Shaggy Man. "I quite agree with you."

The others, too, seemed to think the Wizard's plan the best, and Glinda

herself commended it, so on they marched toward the line of palm trees

that hid the Skeezers' lake from view.

Pretty soon they came to the palms. These were set closely together,

the branches, which came quite to the ground, being so tightly

interlaced that even the Glass Cat could scarcely find a place to

squeeze through. The path which the Flatheads used was some distance

away.

"Here's a job for the Tin Woodman," said the Scarecrow.

So the Tin Woodman, who was always glad to be of use, set to work with

his sharp, gleaming axe, which he always carried, and in a surprisingly

short time had chopped away enough branches to permit them all to pass

easily through the trees.

Now the clear waters of the beautiful lake were before them and by

looking closely they could see the outlines of the Great Dome of the

sunken island, far from shore and directly in the center of the lake.

Of course every eye was at first fixed upon this dome, where Ozma and

Dorothy and the Skeezers were still fast prisoners. But soon their

attention was caught by a more brilliant sight, for here was the

Diamond Swan swimming just before them, its long neck arched proudly,

the amethyst eyes gleaming and all the diamond-sprinkled feathers

glistening splendidly under the rays of the sun.

"That," said Glinda, "is the transformation of Queen Coo-ce-oh, the

haughty and wicked witch who betrayed the three Adepts at Magic and

treated her people like slaves."

"She's wonderfully beautiful now," remarked the Frogman.

"It doesn't seem like much of a punishment," said Trot. "The Flathead

Su-dic ought to have made her a toad."

"I am sure Coo-ee-oh is punished," said Glinda, "for she has lost all

her magic power and her grand palace and can no longer misrule the poor

Skeezers."

"Let us call to her, and hear what she has to say," proposed the Wizard.

So Glinda beckoned the Diamond Swan, which swam gracefully to a

position near them. Before anyone could speak Coo-ee-oh called to them

in a rasping voice--for the voice of a swan is always harsh and

unpleasant--and said with much pride:

"Admire me, Strangers! Admire the lovely Coo-ee-oh, the handsomest

creature in all Oz. Admire me!"

"Handsome is as handsome does," replied the Scarecrow. "Are your deeds

lovely, Coo-ce-oh?"

"Deeds? What deeds can a swan do but swim around and give pleasure to

all beholders?" said the sparkling bird.

"Have you forgotten your former life? Have you forgotten your magic and

witchcraft?" inquired the Wizard.

"Magic--witchcraft? Pshaw, who cares for such silly things?" retorted

Coo-ee-oh. "As for my past life, it seems like an unpleasant dream. I

wouldn't go back to it if I could. Don't you admire my beauty,

Strangers?"

"Tell us, Coo-ee-oh," said Glinda earnestly, "if you can recall enough

of your witchcraft to enable us to raise the sunken island to the

surface of the lake. Tell us that and I'll give you a string of pearls

to wear around your neck and add to your beauty."

"Nothing can add to my beauty, for I'm the most beautiful creature

anywhere in the whole world."

"But how can we raise the island?"

"I don't know and I don't care. If ever I knew I've forgotten, and I'm

glad of it," was the response. "Just watch me circle around and see me

glitter!

"It's no use," said Button Bright; "the old Swan is too much in love

with herself to think of anything else."

"That's a fact," agreed Betsy with a sigh; "but we've got to get Ozma

and Dorothy out of that lake, somehow or other."

"And we must do it in our own way," added the Scarecrow.

"But how?" asked Uncle Henry in a grave voice, for he could not bear to

think of his dear niece Dorothy being out there under water; "how shall

we do it?"

"Leave that to Glinda," advised the Wizard, realizing he was helpless

to do it himself.

"If it were just an ordinary sunken island," said the powerful

sorceress, "there would be several ways by which I might bring it to

the surface again. But this is a Magic Isle, and by some curious art of

witchcraft, unknown to any but Queen Coo-ce-oh, it obeys certain

commands of magic and will not respond to any other. I do not despair

in the least, but it will require some deep study to solve this

difficult problem. If the Swan could only remember the witchcraft that

she invented and knew as a woman, I could force her to tell me the

secret, but all her former knowledge is now forgotten."

"It seems to me," said the Wizard after a brief silence had followed

Glinda's speech, "that there are three fishes in this lake that used to

be Adepts at Magic and from whom Coo-ee-oh stole much of her knowledge.

If we could find those fishes and return them to their former shapes,

they could doubtless tell us what to do to bring the sunken island to

the surface."

"I have thought of those fishes," replied Glinda, "but among so many

fishes as this lake contains how are we to single them out?"

You will understand, of course, that had Glinda been at home in her

castle, where the Great Book of Records was, she would have known that

Ervic the Skeezer already had taken the gold and silver and bronze

fishes from the lake. But that act had been recorded in the Book after

Glinda had set out on this journey, so it was all unknown to her.

"I think I see a boat yonder on the shore," said Ojo the Munchkin boy,

pointing to a place around the edge of the lake. "If we could get that

boat and row all over the lake, calling to the magic fishes, we might

be able to find them."

"Let us go to the boat," said the Wizard.

They walked around the lake to where the boat was stranded upon the

beach, but found it empty. It was a mere shell of blackened steel, with

a collapsible roof that, when in position, made the submarine

watertight, but at present the roof rested in slots on either side of

the magic craft. There were no oars or sails, no machinery to make the

boat go, and although Glinda promptly realized it was meant to be

operated by witchcraft, she was not acquainted with that sort of magic.

"However," said she, "the boat is merely a boat, and I believe I can

make it obey a command of sorcery, as well as it did the command of

witchcraft. After I have given a little thought to the matter, the boat

will take us wherever we desire to go."

"Not all of us," returned the Wizard, "for it won't hold so many. But,

most noble Sorceress, provided you can make the boat go, of what use

will it be to us?"

"Can't we use it to catch the three fishes?" asked Button Bright.

"It will not be necessary to use the boat for that purpose," replied

Glinda. "Wherever in the lake the enchanted fishes may be, they will

answer to my call. What I am trying to discover is how the boat came to

be on this shore, while the island on which it belongs is under water

yonder. Did Coo-ee-oh come here in the boat to meet the Flatheads

before the island was sunk, or afterward?"

No one could answer that question, of course; but while they pondered

the matter three young men advanced from the line of trees, and rather

timidly bowed to the strangers.

"Who are you, and where did you come from?" inquired the Wizard.

"We are Skeezers," answered one of them, "and our home is on the Magic

Isle of the Lake. We ran away when we saw you coming, and hid behind

the trees, but as you are Strangers and seem to be friendly we decided

to meet you, for we are in great trouble and need assistance."

"If you belong on the island, why are you here?" demanded Glinda.

So they told her all the story: How the Queen had defied the Flatheads

and submerged the whole island so that her enemies could not get to it

or destroy it; how, when the Flatheads came to the shore, Coo-ee-oh had

commanded them, together with their friend Ervic, to go with her in the

submarine to conquer the Su-dic, and how the boat had shot out from the

basement of the sunken isle, obeying a magic word, and risen to the

surface, where it opened and floated upon the water.

Then followed the account of how the Su-dic had transformed Coo-ee-oh

into a swan, after which she had forgotten all the witchcraft she ever

knew. The young men told how, in the night when they were asleep, their

comrade Ervic had mysteriously disappeared, while the boat in some

strange manner had floated to the shore and stranded upon the beach.

That was all they knew. They had searched in vain for three days for

Ervic. As their island was under water and they could not get back to

it, the three Skeezers had no place to go, and so had waited patiently

beside their boat for something to happen.

Being questioned by Glinda and the Wizard, they told all they knew

about Ozma and Dorothy and declared the two girls were still in the

village under the Great Dome. They were quite safe and would be well

cared for by Lady Aurex, now that the Queen who opposed them was out of

the way.

When they had gleaned all the information they could from these

Skeezers, the Wizard said to Glinda:

"If you find you can make this boat obey your sorcery, you could have

it return to the island, submerge itself, and enter the door in the

basement from which it came. But I cannot see that our going to the

sunken island would enable our friends to escape. We would only Join

them as prisoners."

"Not so, friend Wizard," replied Glinda. "If the boat would obey my

commands to enter the basement door, it would also obey my commands to

come out again, and I could bring Ozma and Dorothy back with me."

"And leave all of our people still imprisoned?" asked one of the

Skeezers reproachfully.

"By making several trips in the boat, Glinda could fetch all your

people to the shore," replied the Wizard.

"But what could they do then?" inquired another Skeezer. "They would

have no homes and no place to go, and would be at the mercy of their

enemies, the Flatheads."

"That is true," said Glinda the Good. "And as these people are Ozma's

subjects, I think she would refuse to escape with Dorothy and leave the

others behind, or to abandon the island which is the lawful home of the

Skeezers. I believe the best plan will be to summon the three fishes

and learn from them how to raise the island."

The little Wizard seemed to think that this was rather a forlorn hope.

"How will you summon them," he asked the lovely Sorceress, "and how can

they hear you?"

"That is something we must consider carefully," responded stately

Glinda, with a serene smile. "I think I can find a way."

All of Ozma's counsellors applauded this sentiment, for they knew well

the powers of the Sorceress.

"Very well," agreed the Wizard. "Summon them, most noble Glinda."