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 under-water 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-ee-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, rugs, 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 as
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.