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.
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