Glinda of Oz Page 01
GLINDA OF OZ
In which are related the Exciting Experiences of Princess
Ozma of Oz, and Dorothy, in their hazardous journey
to the home of the Flatheads, and to the Magic
Isle of the Skeezers, and how they were
rescued from dire peril by the
sorcery of Glinda the
Good
by L. FRANK BAUM
"Royal Historian of Oz"
This Book
is Dedicated to
My Son
Robert Stanton Baum
LIST OF CHAPTERS
1 The Call of Duty
2 Ozma and Dorothy
3 The Mist Maidens
4 The Magic Tent
5 The Magic Stairway
6 Flathead Mountain
7 The Magic Isle
8 Queen Coo-ee-oh
9 Lady Aurex
10 Under Water
11 The Conquest of the Skeezers
12 The Diamond Swan
13 The Alarm Bell
14 Ozma's Counsellors
15 The Great Sorceress
16 The Enchanted Fishes
17 Under the Great Dome
18 The Cleverness of Ervic
19 Red Reera, the Yookoohoo..
20 A Puzzling Problem
21 The Three Adepts
22 The Sunken Island
23 The Magic Words
24 Glinda's Triumph
Chapter One
The Call to Duty
Glinda, the good Sorceress of Oz, sat in the grand court of her palace, surrounded by her maids of honor -- a hundred of the most beautiful girls of the Fairyland of Oz. The palace court was built of rare marbles, exquisitely polished. Fountains tinkled musically here and there; the vast colonnade, open to the south, allowed the maidens, as they raised their heads from their embroideries, to gaze upon a vista of rose-hued fields and groves of trees bearing fruits or laden with sweet-scented flowers. At times one of the girls would start a song, the others joining in the chorus, or one would rise and dance, gracefully swaying to the music of a harp played by a companion. And then Glinda smiled, glad to see her maids mixing play with work.
Presently among the fields an object was seen moving, threading the broad path that led to the castle gate. Some of the girls looked upon this object enviously; the Sorceress merely gave it a glance and nodded her stately head as if pleased, for it meant the coming of her friend and mistress -- the only one in all the land that Glinda bowed to.
Then up the path trotted a wooden animal attached to a red wagon, and as the quaint steed halted at the gate there descended from the wagon two young girls, Ozma, Ruler of Oz, and her companion, Princess Dorothy. Both were dressed in simple white muslin gowns, and as they ran up the marble steps of the palace they laughed and chatted as gaily as if they were not the most important persons in the world's loveliest fairyland.
The maids of honor had risen and stood with bowed heads to greet the royal Ozma, while Glinda came forward with outstretched arms to greet her guests.
"We've just come on a visit, you know," said Ozma. "Both Dorothy and I were wondering how we should pass the day when we happened to think we'd not been to your Quadling Country for weeks, so we took the Sawhorse and rode straight here."
"And we came so fast," added Dorothy, "that our hair is blown all fuzzy, for the Sawhorse makes a wind of his own. Usually it's a day's journey from the Em'rald City, but I don't s'pose we were two hours on the way."
"You are most welcome," said Glinda the Sorceress, and led them through the court to her magnificent reception hall. Ozma took the arm of her hostess, but Dorothy lagged behind, kissing some of the maids she knew best, talking with others, and making them all feel that she was their friend. When at last she joined Glinda and Ozma in the reception hall, she found them talking earnestly about the condition of the people, and how to make them more happy and contented -- although they were already the happiest and most contented folks in all the world.
This interested Ozma, of course, but it didn't interest Dorothy very much, so the little girl ran over to a big table on which was lying open Glinda's Great Book of Records.