L. Frank Baum_Oz 14 (5 page)

Dorothy was staring hard at the Su-dic.

"I don't see how you can have any brains at all," she remarked,
"because the part of your head is gone where brains are kept."

"I don't blame you for thinking that," he said. "Once the Flatheads had
no brains because, as you say, there is no upper part to their heads,
to hold brains. But long, long ago a band of fairies flew over this
country and made it all a fairyland, and when they came to the
Flatheads the fairies were sorry to find them all very stupid and quite
unable to think. So, as there was no good place in their bodies in
which to put brains the Fairy Queen gave each one of us a nice can of
brains to carry in his pocket and that made us just as intelligent as
other people. See," he continued, "here is one of the cans of brains
the fairies gave us." He took from a pocket a bright tin can having a
pretty red label on it which said: "Concentrated Brains, Extra Quality."

"And does every Flathead have the same kind of brains?" asked Dorothy.

"Yes, they're all alike. Here's another can." From another pocket he
produced a second can of brains.

"Did the fairies give you a double supply?" inquired Dorothy.

"No, but one of the Flatheads thought he wanted to be the Su-dic and
tried to get my people to rebel against me, so I punished him by taking
away his brains. One day my wife scolded me severely, so I took away
her can of brains. She didn't like that and went out and robbed several
women of their brains. Then I made a law that if anyone stole another's
brains, or even tried to borrow them, he would forfeit his own brains
to the Su-dic. So each one is content with his own canned brains and my
wife and I are the only ones on the mountain with more than one can. I
have three cans and that makes me very clever—so clever that I'm a
good Sorcerer, if I do say it myself. My poor wife had four cans of
brains and became a remarkable witch, but alas! that was before those
terrible enemies, the Skeezers, transformed her into a Golden Pig."

"Good gracious!" cried Dorothy; "is your wife really a Golden Pig?"

"She is. The Skeezers did it and so I have declared war on them. In
revenge for making my wife a Pig I intend to ruin their Magic Island
and make the Skeezers the slaves of the Flatheads!"

The Su-dic was very angry now; his eyes flashed and his face took on a
wicked and fierce expression. But Ozma said to him, very sweetly and in
a friendly voice:

"I am sorry to hear this. Will you please tell me more about your
troubles with the Skeezers? Then perhaps I can help you."

She was only a girl, but there was dignity in her pose and speech which
impressed the Su-dic.

"If you are really Princess Ozma of Oz," the Flathead said, "you are
one of that band of fairies who, under Queen Lurline, made all Oz a
Fairyland. I have heard that Lurline left one of her own fairies to
rule Oz, and gave the fairy the name of Ozma."

"If you knew this why did you not come to me at the Emerald City and
tender me your loyalty and obedience?" asked the Ruler of Oz.

"Well, I only learned the fact lately, and I've been too busy to leave
home," he explained, looking at the floor instead of into Ozma's eyes.
She knew he had spoken a falsehood, but only said:

"Why did you quarrel with the Skeezers?"

"It was this way," began the Su-dic, glad to change the subject. "We
Flatheads love fish, and as we have no fish on this mountain we would
sometimes go to the Lake of the Skeezers to catch fish. This made the
Skeezers angry, for they declared the fish in their lake belonged to
them and were under their protection and they forbade us to catch them.
That was very mean and unfriendly in the Skeezers, you must admit, and
when we paid no attention to their orders they set a guard on the shore
of the lake to prevent our fishing.

"Now, my wife, Rora Flathead, having four cans of brains, had become a
wonderful witch, and fish being brain food, she loved to eat fish
better than any one of us. So she vowed she would destroy every fish in
the lake, unless the Skeezers let us catch what we wanted. They defied
us, so Rora prepared a kettleful of magic poison and went down to the
lake one night to dump it all in the water and poison the fish. It was
a clever idea, quite worthy of my dear wife, but the Skeezer Queen—a
young lady named Coo-ee-oh—hid on the bank of the lake and taking Rora
unawares, transformed her into a Golden Pig. The poison was spilled on
the ground and wicked Queen Coo-ee-oh, not content with her cruel
transformation, even took away my wife's four cans of brains, so she is
now a common grunting pig without even brains enough to know her own
name."

"Then," said Ozma thoughtfully, "the Queen of the Skeezers must be a
Sorceress."

"Yes," said the Su-dic, "but she doesn't know much magic, after all.
She is not as powerful as Rora Flathead was, nor half as powerful as I
am now, as Queen Coo-ee-oh will discover when we fight our great battle
and destroy her."

"The Golden Pig can't be a witch any more, of course," observed Dorothy.

"No; even had Queen Coo-ee-oh left her the four cans of brains, poor
Rora, in a pig's shape, couldn't do any witchcraft. A witch has to use
her fingers, and a pig has only cloven hoofs."

"It seems a sad story," was Ozma's comment, "and all the trouble arose
because the Flatheads wanted fish that did not belong to them."

"As for that," said the Su-dic, again angry, "I made a law that any of
my people could catch fish in the Lake of the Skeezers, whenever they
wanted to. So the trouble was through the Skeezers defying my law."

"You can only make laws to govern your own people," asserted Ozma
sternly. "I, alone, am empowered to make laws that must be obeyed by
all the peoples of Oz."

"Pooh!" cried the Su-dic scornfully. "You can't make me obey your laws,
I assure you. I know the extent of your powers, Princess Ozma of Oz,
and I know that I am more powerful than you are. To prove it I shall
keep you and your companion prisoners in this mountain until after we
have fought and conquered the Skeezers. Then, if you promise to be
good, I may let you go home again."

Dorothy was amazed by this effrontery and defiance of the beautiful
girl Ruler of Oz, whom all until now had obeyed without question. But
Ozma, still unruffled and dignified, looked at the Su-dic and said:

"You did not mean that. You are angry and speak unwisely, without
reflection. I came here from my palace in the Emerald City to prevent
war and to make peace between you and the Skeezers. I do not approve of
Queen Coo-ee-oh's action in transforming your wife Rora into a pig, nor
do I approve of Rora's cruel attempt to poison the fishes in the lake.
No one has the right to work magic in my dominions without my consent,
so the Flatheads and the Skeezers have both broken my laws—which must
be obeyed."

"If you want to make peace," said the Su-dic, "make the Skeezers
restore my wife to her proper form and give back her four cans of
brains. Also make them agree to allow us to catch fish in their lake."

"No," returned Ozma, "I will not do that, for it would be unjust. I
will have the Golden Pig again transformed into your wife Rora, and
give her one can of brains, but the other three cans must be restored
to those she robbed. Neither may you catch fish in the Lake of the
Skeezers, for it is their lake and the fish belong to them. This
arrangement is just and honorable, and you must agree to it."

"Never!" cried the Su-dic. Just then a pig came running into the room,
uttering dismal grunts. It was made of solid gold, with joints at the
bends of the legs and in the neck and jaws. The Golden Pig's eyes were
rubies, and its teeth were polished ivory.

"There!" said the Su-dic, "gaze on the evil work of Queen Coo-ee-oh,
and then say if you can prevent my making war on the Skeezers. That
grunting beast was once my wife—the most beautiful Flathead on our
mountain and a skillful witch. Now look at her!"

"Fight the Skeezers, fight the Skeezers, fight the Skeezers!" grunted
the Golden Pig.

"I will fight the Skeezers," exclaimed the Flathead chief, "and if a
dozen Ozmas of Oz forbade me I would fight just the same."

"Not if I can prevent it!" asserted Ozma.

"You can't prevent it. But since you threaten me, I'll have you
confined in the bronze prison until the war is over," said the Su-dic.
He whistled and four stout Flatheads, armed with axes and spears,
entered the room and saluted him. Turning to the men he said: "Take
these two girls, bind them with wire ropes and cast them into the
bronze prison."

The four men bowed low and one of them asked:

"Where are the two girls, most noble Su-dic?"

The Su-dic turned to where Ozma and Dorothy had stood but they had
vanished!

Ozma, seeing it was useless to argue with the Supreme Dictator of the
Flatheads, had been considering how best to escape from his power. She
realized that his sorcery might be difficult to overcome, and when he
threatened to cast Dorothy and her into a bronze prison she slipped her
hand into her bosom and grasped her silver wand. With the other hand
she grasped the hand of Dorothy, but these motions were so natural that
the Su-dic did not notice them. Then when he turned to meet his four
soldiers, Ozma instantly rendered both herself and Dorothy invisible
and swiftly led her companion around the group of Flatheads and out of
the room. As they reached the entry and descended the stone steps, Ozma
whispered:

"Let us run, dear! We are invisible, so no one will see us."

Dorothy understood and she was a good runner. Ozma had marked the place
where the grand stairway that led to the plain was located, so they
made directly for it. Some people were in the paths but these they
dodged around. One or two Flatheads heard the pattering of footsteps of
the girls on the stone pavement and stopped with bewildered looks to
gaze around them, but no one interfered with the invisible fugitives.

The Su-dic had lost no time in starting the chase. He and his men ran
so fast that they might have overtaken the girls before they reached
the stairway had not the Golden Pig suddenly run across their path. The
Su-dic tripped over the pig and fell flat, and his four men tripped
over him and tumbled in a heap. Before they could scramble up and reach
the mouth of the passage it was too late to stop the two girls.

There was a guard on each side of the stairway, but of course they did
not see Ozma and Dorothy as they sped past and descended the steps.
Then they had to go up five steps and down another ten, and so on, in
the same manner in which they had climbed to the top of the mountain.
Ozma lighted their way with her wand and they kept on without relaxing
their speed until they reached the bottom. Then they ran to the right
and turned the corner of the invisible wall just as the Su-dic and his
followers rushed out of the arched entrance and looked around in an
attempt to discover the fugitives.

Ozma now knew they were safe, so she told Dorothy to stop and both of
them sat down on the grass until they could breathe freely and become
rested from their mad flight.

As for the Su-dic, he realized he was foiled and soon turned and
climbed his stairs again. He was very angry—angry with Ozma and angry
with himself—because, now that he took time to think, he remembered
that he knew very well the art of making people invisible, and visible
again, and if he had only thought of it in time he could have used his
magic knowledge to make the girls visible and so have captured them
easily. However, it was now too late for regrets and he determined to
make preparations at once to march all his forces against the Skeezers.

"What shall we do next?" asked Dorothy, when they were rested.

"Let us find the Lake of the Skeezers," replied Ozma. "From what that
dreadful Su-dic said I imagine the Skeezers are good people and worthy
of our friendship, and if we go to them we may help them to defeat the
Flatheads."

"I s'pose we can't stop the war now," remarked Dorothy reflectively, as
they walked toward the row of palm trees.

"No; the Su-dic is determined to fight the Skeezers, so all we can do
is to warn them of their danger and help them as much as possible."

"Of course you'll punish the Flatheads," said Dorothy.

"Well, I do not think the Flathead people are as much to blame as their
Supreme Dictator," was the answer. "If he is removed from power and his
unlawful magic taken from him, the people will probably be good and
respect the laws of the Land of Oz, and live at peace with all their
neighbors in the future."

"I hope so," said Dorothy with a sigh of doubt

The palms were not far from the mountain and the girls reached them
after a brisk walk. The huge trees were set close together, in three
rows, and had been planted so as to keep people from passing them, but
the Flatheads had cut a passage through this barrier and Ozma found the
path and led Dorothy to the other side.

Beyond the palms they discovered a very beautiful scene. Bordered by a
green lawn was a great lake fully a mile from shore to shore, the
waters of which were exquisitely blue and sparkling, with little
wavelets breaking its smooth surface where the breezes touched it. In
the center of this lake appeared a lovely island, not of great extent
but almost entirely covered by a huge round building with glass walls
and a high glass dome which glittered brilliantly in the sunshine.
Between the glass building and the edge of the island was no grass,
flowers or shrubbery, but only an expanse of highly polished white
marble. There were no boats on either shore and no signs of life could
be seen anywhere on the island.

"Well," said Dorothy, gazing wistfully at the island, "we've found the
Lake of the Skeezers and their Magic Isle. I guess the Skeezers are in
that big glass palace, but we can't get at 'em."