When night fell all the interior of the Great Dome,streets and houses, became lighted with brilliantincandescent lamps, which rendered it bright as day.Dorothy thought the island must look beautiful by nightfrom the outer shore of the lake. There was revelry andfeasting in the Queen's palace, and the music of theroyal band could be plainly heard in Lady Aurex'shouse, where Ozma and Dorothy remained with theirhostess and keeper. They were prisoners, but treatedwith much consideration.

Lady Aurex gave them a nice supper and when theywished to retire showed them to a pretty room withcomfortable beds and wished them a good night andpleasant dreams.

"What do you think of all this, Ozma?" Dorothyanxiously inquired when they were alone.

"I am glad we came," was the reply, "for althoughthere may be mischief done to-morrow, it was necessaryI should know about these people, whose leaders arewild and lawless and oppress their subjects withinjustice and cruelties. My task, therefore, is toliberate the Skeezers and the Flatheads and secure forthem freedom and happiness. I have no doubt I canaccomplish this in time."

"Just now, though, we're in a bad fix," assertedDorothy. "If Queen Coo-ee-oh conquers to-morrow, shewon't be nice to us, and if the Su-dic conquers, he'llbe worse."

"Do not worry, dear," said Ozma, "I do not think weare in danger, whatever happens, and the result of ouradventure is sure to be good."

Dorothy was not worrying, especially. She hadconfidence in her friend, the fairy Princess of Oz, andshe enjoyed the excitement of the events in which shewas taking part. So she crept into bed and fell asleepas easily as if she had been in her own cosy room inOzma's palace.

A sort of grating, grinding sound awakened her. Thewhole island seemed to tremble and sway, as it might doin an earthquake. Dorothy sat up in bed, rubbing hereyes to get the sleep out of them, and then found itwas daybreak.

Ozma was hurriedly dressing herself.

"What is it?" asked Dorothy, jumping out of bed.

"I'm not sure," answered Ozma "but it feels as if theisland is sinking."

As soon as possible they finished dressing, while thecreaking and swaying continued. Then they rushed intothe living room of the house and found Lady Aurex,fully dressed, awaiting them.

"Do not be alarmed," said their hostess. "Coo-ee-ohhas decided to submerge the island, that is all. But itproves the Flatheads are coming to attack us."

"What do you mean by sub-sub-merging the island?"asked Dorothy.

"Come here and see," was the reply.

Lady Aurex led them to a window which faced the sideof the great dome which covered all the village, andthey could see that the island was indeed sinking, forthe water of the lake was already half way up the sideof the dome. Through the glass could be seen swimmingfishes, and tall stalks of swaying seaweeds, for thewater was clear as crystal and through it they coulddistinguish even the farther shore of the lake.

"The Flatheads are not here yet," said Lady Aurex."They will come soon, but not until all of this dome isunder the surface of the water."

"Won't the dome leak?" Dorothy inquired anxiously.

"No, indeed."

"Was the island ever sub-sub-sunk before?"

"Oh, yes; on several occasions. But Coo-ee-oh doesn'tcare to do that often, for it requires a lot of hardwork to operate the machinery. The dome was built sothat the island could disappear. I think," shecontinued, "that our Queen fears the Flatheads willattack the island and try to break the glass of thedome."

"Well, if we're under water, they can't fight us, andwe can't fight them," asserted Dorothy.

"They could kill the fishes, however," said Ozmagravely

"We have ways to fight, also, even though our islandis under water," claimed Lady Aurex. "I cannot tell youall our secrets, but this island is full of surprises.Also our Queen's magic is astonishing."

"Did she steal it all from the three Adepts inSorcery that are now fishes?"

"She stole the knowledge and the magic tools, but shehas used them as the three Adepts never would havedone."

By this time the top of the dome was quite underwater and suddenly the island stopped sinking andbecame stationary.

"See!" cried Lady Aurex, pointing to the shore. "TheFlatheads have come."

On the bank, which was now far above their heads, acrowd of dark figures could be seen.

"Now let us see what Coo-ee-oh will do to opposethem," continued Lady Aurex, in a voice that betrayedher excitement.

* * * * * * * *

The Flatheads, pushing their way through the line ofpalm trees, had reached the shore of the lake just asthe top of the island's dome disappeared beneath thesurface. The water now flowed from shore to shore, butthrough the clear water the dome was still visible andthe houses of the Skeezers could be dimly seen throughthe panes of glass.

"Good!" exclaimed the Su-dic, who had armed all hisfollowers and had brought with him two copper vessels,which he carefully set down upon the ground beside him."If Coo-ee-oh wants to hide instead of fighting our jobwill be easy, for in one of these copper vessels I haveenough poison to kill every fish in the lake."

"Kill them, then, while we have time, and then we cango home again," advised one of the chief officers.

"Not yet," objected the Su-dic. "The Queen of theSkeezers has defied me, and I want to get her into mypower, as well as to destroy her magic. She transformedmy poor wife into a Golden Pig, and I must have revengefor that, whatever else we do."

"Look out!" suddenly exclaimed the officers, pointinginto the lake; "something's going to happen."

From the submerged dome a door opened and somethingblack shot swiftly out into the water. The doorinstantly closed behind it and the dark object cleavedits way through the water, without rising to thesurface, directly toward the place where the Flatheadswere standing.

"What is that?" Dorothy asked the Lady Aurex.

"That is one of the Queen's submarines," was thereply. "It is all enclosed, and can move under water.Coo-ee-oh has several of these boats which are kept inlittle rooms in the basement under our village. Whenthe island is submerged, the Queen uses these boats toreach the shore, and I believe she now intends to fightthe Flatheads with them."

The Su-dic and his people knew nothing of Coo-ee-oh'ssubmarines, so they watched with surprise as the under-water boat approached them. When it was quite near theshore it rose to the surface and the top parted andfell back, disclosing a boat full of armed Skeezers. Atthe head was the Queen, standing up in the bow andholding in one hand a coil of magic rope that gleamedlike silver.

The boat halted and Coo-ee-oh drew back her arm tothrow the silver rope toward the Su-dic, who was nowbut a few feet from her. But the wily Flathead leaderquickly realized his danger and before the Queen couldthrow the rope he caught up one of the copper vesselsand dashed its contents full in her face!