Ozma had seen in her Magic Picture the liberation ofInga's parents and the departure of the entire partyfor the Emerald City, so with her usual hospitalityshe ordered a splendid banquet prepared and invitedall her quaint friends who were then in the EmeraldCity to be present that evening to meet the strangerswho were to become her guests.

Glinda, also, in her wonderful Record Book hadlearned of the events that had taken place in thecaverns of the Nome King and she became especiallyinterested in the enchantment of the Prince ofBoboland. So she hastily prepared several of her mostpowerful charms and then summoned her flock of sixteenwhite storks, which swiftly bore her to Ozma's palace.She arrived there before the Red Wagon did and waswarmly greeted by the girl Ruler.

Realizing that the costume of Queen Garee of Pingareemust have become sadly worn and frayed, owing to herhardships and adventures, Ozma ordered a royal outfitprepared for the good Queen and had it laid in herchamber ready for her to put on as soon as she arrived,so she would not be shamed at the banquet. New costumeswere also provided for King Kitticut and King Rinkitinkand Prince Inga, all cut and made and embellished inthe elaborate and becoming style then prevalent in theLand of Oz, and as soon as the party arrived at thepalace Ozma's guests were escorted by her servants totheir rooms, that they might bathe and dressthemselves.

Glinda the Sorceress and the Wizard of Oz took chargeof Bilbil the goat and went to a private room wherethey were not likely to be interrupted. Glinda firstquestioned Bilbil long and earnestly about the mannerof his enchantment and the ceremony that had been usedby the magician who enchanted him. At first Bilbilprotested that he did not want to be restored to hisnatural shape, saying that he had been foreverdisgraced in the eyes of his people and of the entireworld by being obliged to exist as a scrawny, scragglygoat. But Glinda pointed out that any person whoincurred the enmity of a wicked magician was liable tosuffer a similar fate, and assured him that hismisfortune would make him better beloved by hissubjects when he returned to them freed from his direenchantment.

Bilbil was finally convinced of the truth of thisassertion and agreed to submit to the experiments ofGlinda and the Wizard, who knew they had a hard taskbefore them and were not at all sure they couldsucceed. We know that Glinda is the most completemistress of magic who has ever existed, and she waswise enough to guess that the clever but evil magicianwho had enchanted Prince Bobo had used a spell thatwould puzzle any ordinary wizard or sorcerer to break;therefore she had given the matter much shrewd thoughtand hoped she had conceived a plan that would succeed.But because she was not positive of success she wouldhave no one present at the incantation except herassistant, the Wizard of Oz.

First she transformed Bilbil the goat into a lamb,and this was done quite easily. Next she transformedthe lamb into an ostrich, giving it two legs and feetinstead of four. Then she tried to transform theostrich into the original Prince Bobo, but thisincantation was an utter failure. Glinda was notdiscouraged, however, but by a powerful spelltransformed the ostrich into a tottenhot -- which is alower form of a man. Then the tottenhot was transformedinto a mifket, which was a great step in advance and,finally, Glinda transformed the mifket into a handsomeyoung man, tall and shapely, who fell on his kneesbefore the great Sorceress and gratefully kissed herhand, admitting that he had now recovered his propershape and was indeed Prince Bobo of Boboland.

This process of magic, successful though it was inthe end, had required so much time that the banquet wasnow awaiting their presence. Bobo was already dressedin princely raiment and although he seemed very muchhumbled by his recent lowly condition, they finallypersuaded him to join the festivities.

When Rinkitink saw that his goat had now become aPrince, he did not know whether to be sorry or glad,for he felt that he would miss the companionship of thequarrelsome animal he had so long been accustomed toride upon, while at the same time he rejoiced that poorBilbil had come to his own again.

Prince Bobo humbly begged Rinkitink's forgiveness forhaving been so disagreeable to him, at times, sayingthat the nature of a goat had influenced him and thesurly disposition he had shown was a part of hisenchantment. But the jolly King assured the Prince thathe had really enjoyed Bilbil's grumpy speeches andforgave him readily. Indeed, they all discovered theyoung Prince Bobo to be an exceedingly courteous andpleasant person, although he was somewhat reserved anddignified.

Ah, but it was a great feast that Ozma served in hergorgeous banquet hall that night and everyone was ashappy as could be. The Shaggy Man was there, and so wasJack Pumpkinhead and the Tin Woodman and Cap'n Bill.Beside Princess Dorothy sat Tiny Trot and Betsy Bobbin,and the three little girls were almost as sweet to lookupon as was Ozma, who sat at the head of her table andoutshone all her guests in loveliness.

King Rinkitink was delighted with the quaint peopleof Oz and laughed and joked with the tin man and thepumpkin-headed man and found Cap'n Bill a veryagreeable companion. But what amused the jolly Kingmost were the animal guests, which Ozma always invitedto her banquets and seated at a table by themselves,where they talked and chatted together as people do butwere served the sort of food their natures required.The Hungry Tiger and Cowardly Lion and the Glass Catwere much admired by Rinkitink, but when he met a mulenamed Hank, which Betsy Bobbin had brought to Oz, theKing found the creature so comical that he laughed andchuckled until his friends thought he would choke. Thenwhile the banquet was still in progress, Rinkitinkcomposed and sang a song to the mule and they alljoined in the chorus, which was something like this:

"It's very queer how big an earIs worn by Mr. Donkey;And yet I fear he could not hearIf it were on a monkey.

'Tis thick and strong and broad and longAnd also very hairy;It's quite becoming to our HankBut might disgrace a fairy!"

This song was received with so much enthusiasm thatRinkitink was prevailed upon to sing another. They gavehim a little time to compose the rhyme, which hedeclared would be better if he could devote a month ortwo to its composition, hut the sentiment he expressedwas so admirable that no one criticized the song or themanner in which the jolly little King sang it.

Dorothy wrote down the words on a piece of paper, andhere they are:

"We're merry comrades all, to-night,Because we've won a gallant fightAnd conquered all our foes.We're not afraid of anything,So let us gayly laugh and singUntil we seek repose.

"We've all our grateful hearts can wish;King Gos has gone to feed the fish,Queen Cor has gone, as well;King Kitticut has found his own,Prince Bobo soon will have a throneRelieved of magic spell.

"So let's forget the horrid strifeThat fell upon our peaceful lifeAnd caused distress and pain;For very soon across the seaWe'll all be sailing merrilyTo Pingaree again."