Lady Aurex led Ozma and Dorothy along a street to apretty marble house near to one edge of the great glassdome that covered the village. She did not speak to thegirls until she had ushered them into a pleasant room,comfortably furnished, nor did any of the solemn peoplethey met on the street venture to speak.

When they were seated Lady Aurex asked if they werehungry, and finding they were summoned a maid andordered food to be brought.

This Lady Aurex looked to be about twenty years old,although in the Land of Oz where people have neverchanged in appearance since the fairies made it afairyland -- where no one grows old or dies -- it isalways difficult to say how many years anyone haslived. She had a pleasant, attractive face, even thoughit was solemn and sad as the faces of all Skeezersseemed to be, and her costume was rich and elaborate,as became a lady in waiting upon the Queen.

Ozma had observed Lady Aurex closely and now askedher in a gentle tone:

"Do you, also, believe me to be an impostor?"

"I dare not say," replied Lady Aurex in a low tone.

"Why are you afraid to speak freely?" inquired Ozma.

"The Queen punishes us if we make remarks that shedoes not like."

"Are we not alone then, in this house?"

"The Queen can hear everything that is spoken on thisisland -- even the slightest whisper," declared LadyAurex. "She is a wonderful witch, as she has told you,and it is folly to criticise her or disobey hercommands."

Ozma looked into her eyes and saw that she would liketo say more if she dared. So she drew from her bosomher silver wand, and having muttered a magic phrase ina strange tongue, she left the room and walked slowlyaround the outside of the house, making a completecircle and waving her wand in mystic curves as shewalked. Lady Aurex watched her curiously and, when Ozmahad again entered the room and seated herself, sheasked:

"What have you done?"

"I've enchanted this house in such a manner thatQueen Coo-ee-oh, with all her witchcraft, cannot hearone word we speak within the magic circle I have made,"replied Ozma. "We may now speak freely and as loudly aswe wish, without fear of the Queen's anger."

Lady Aurex brightened at this.

"Can I trust you?" she asked.

"Ev'rybody trusts Ozma," exclaimed Dorothy. "She istrue and honest, and your wicked Queen will be sorryshe insulted the powerful Ruler of all the Land of Oz."

"The Queen does not know me yet," said Ozma, "but Iwant you to know me, Lady Aurex, and I want you to tellme why you, and all the Skeezers, are unhappy. Do notfear Coo-ee-oh's anger, for she cannot hear a word wesay, I assure you."

Lady Aurex was thoughtful a moment; then she said: "Ishall trust you, Princess Ozma, for I believe you arewhat you say you are -- our supreme Ruler. If you knewthe dreadful punishments our Queen inflicts upon us,you would not wonder we are so unhappy. The Skeezersare not bad people; they do not care to quarrel andfight, even with their enemies the Flatheads; but theyare so cowed and fearful of Coo-ee-oh that they obeyher slightest word, rather than suffer her anger."

"Hasn't she any heart, then?" asked Dorothy.

"She never displays mercy. She loves no one butherself," asserted Lady Aurex, but she trembled as shesaid it, as if afraid even yet of her terrible Queen.

"That's pretty bad," said Dorothy, shaking her headgravely. "I see you've a lot to do here, Ozma, in thisforsaken corner of the Land of Oz. First place, you'vegot to take the magic away from Queen Coo-ee-oh, andfrom that awful Su-dic, too. My idea is that neither ofthem is fit to rule anybody, 'cause they're cruel andhateful. So you'll have to give the Skeezers andFlatheads new rulers and teach all their people thatthey're part of the Land of Oz and must obey, aboveall, the lawful Ruler, Ozma of Oz. Then, when you'vedone that, we can go back home again."

Ozma smiled at her little friend's earnest counsel,but Lady Aurex said in an anxious tone:

"I am surprised that you suggest these reforms whileyou are yet prisoners on this island and in Coo-ee-oh'spower. That these things should be done, there is nodoubt, but just now a dreadful war is likely to breakout, and frightful things may happen to us all. OurQueen has such conceit that she thinks she can overcomethe Su-dic and his people, but it is said Su-dic'smagic is very powerful, although not as great as thatpossessed by his wife Rora, before Coo-ee-ohtransformed her into a Golden Pig."

"I don't blame her very much for doing that,"remarked Dorothy, "for the Flatheads were wicked to tryto catch your beautiful fish and the Witch Rora wantedto poison all the fishes in the lake."

"Do you know the reason?" asked the Lady Aurex.

"I don't s'pose there was any reason, 'cept justwickedness," replied Dorothy.

"Tell us the reason," said Ozma earnestly.

"Well, your Majesty, once -- a long time ago -- theFlatheads and the Skeezers were friendly. They visitedour island and we visited their mountain, andeverything was pleasant between the two peoples. Atthat time the Flatheads were ruled by three Adepts inSorcery, beautiful girls who were not Flatheads, buthad wandered to the Flat Mountain and made their homethere. These three Adepts used their magic only forgood, and the mountain people gladly made them theirrulers. They taught the Flatheads how to use theircanned brains and how to work metals into clothing thatwould never wear out, and many other things that addedto their happiness and content.

"Coo-ee-oh was our Queen then, as now, but she knewno magic and so had nothing to be proud of. But thethree Adepts were very kind to Coo-ee-oh. They builtfor us this wonderful dome of glass and our houses ofmarble and taught us to make beautiful clothing andmany other things. Coo-ee-oh pretended to be verygrateful for these favors, but it seems that all thetime she was jealous of the three Adepts and secretlytried to discover their arts of magic. In this she wasmore clever than anyone suspected. She invited thethree Adepts to a banquet one day, and while they werefeasting Coo-ee-oh stole their charms and magicalinstruments and transformed them into three fishes -- agold fish, a silver fish and a bronze fish. While thepoor fishes were gasping and flopping helplessly on thefloor of the banquet room one of them saidreproachfully: 'You will be punished for this, Coo-ee-oh, for if one of us dies or is destroyed, you willbecome shrivelled and helpless, and all your stolenmagic will depart from you.' Frightened by this threat,Coo-ee-oh at once caught up the three fish and ran withthem to the shore of the lake, where she cast them intothe water. This revived the three Adepts and they swamaway and disappeared.

"I, myself, witnessed this shocking scene," continuedLady Aurex, "and so did many other Skeezers. The newswas carried to the Flatheads, who then turned fromfriends to enemies. The Su-dic and his wife Rora werethe only ones on the mountain who were glad the threeAdepts had been lost to them, and they at once becameRulers of the Flatheads and stole their canned brainsfrom others to make themselves the more powerful. Someof the Adepts' magic tools had been left on themountain, and these Rora seized and by the use of themshe became a witch.

"The result of Coo-ee-oh's treachery was to make boththe Skeezers and the Flatheads miserable instead ofhappy. Not only were the Su-dic and his wife cruel totheir people, but our Queen at once became proud andarrogant and treated us very unkindly. All the Skeezersknew she had stolen her magic powers and so she hatedus and made us humble ourselves before her and obey herslightest word. If we disobeyed, or did not please her,or if we talked about her when we were in our own homesshe would have us dragged to the whipping post in herpalace and lashed with knotted cords. That is why wefear her so greatly."

This story filled Ozma's heart with sorrow andDorothy's heart with indignation.

"I now understand," said Ozma, "why the fishes in thelake have brought about war between the Skeezers andthe Flatheads."

"Yes," Lady Aurex answered, "now that you know thestory it is easy to understand. The Su-dic and his wifecame to our lake hoping to catch the silver fish, orgold fish, or bronze fish -- any one of them would do -- and by destroying it deprive Coo-ee-oh of her magic.Then they could easily conquer her. Also they hadanother reason for wanting to catch the fish -- theyfeared that in some way the three Adepts might regaintheir proper forms and then they would be sure toreturn to the mountain and punish Rora and the Su-dic.That was why Rora finally tried to poison all thefishes in the lake, at the time Coo-ee-oh transformedher into a Golden Pig. Of course this attempt todestroy the fishes frightened the Queen, for her safetylies in keeping the three fishes alive."

"I s'pose Coo-ee-oh will fight the Flatheads with allher might," observed Dorothy.

"And with all her magic," added Ozma, thoughtfully.

"I do not see how the Flatheads can get to thisisland to hurt us," said Lady Aurex.

"They have bows and arrows, and I guess they mean toshoot the arrows at your big dome, and break all theglass in it," suggested Dorothy.

But Lady Aurex shook her head with a smile.

"They cannot do that," she replied.

"Why not?"

"I dare not tell you why, but if the Flatheads cometo-morrow morning you will yourselves see the reason."

"I do not think they will attempt to harm theisland," Ozma declared. "I believe they will firstattempt to destroy the fishes, by poison or some othermeans. If they succeed in that, the conquest of theisland will not be difficult."

"They have no boats," said Lady Aurex, "and Coo-ee-oh, who has long expected this war, has been preparingfor it in many astonishing ways. I almost wish theFlatheads would conquer us, for then we would be freefrom our dreadful Queen; but I do not wish to see thethree transformed fishes destroyed, for in them liesour only hope of future happiness."

"Ozma will take care of you, whatever happens,"Dorothy assured her. But the Lady Aurex, not knowingthe extent of Ozma's power -- which was, in fact, notso great as Dorothy imagined -- could not take muchcomfort in this promise.

It was evident there would be exciting times on themorrow, if the Flatheads really attacked the Skeezersof the Magic Isle.