When the Flatheads had gone away the Diamond Swanswam back to the boat and one of the young Skeezersnamed Ervic said to her eagerly:

"How can we get back to the island, your Majesty?"

"Am I not beautiful?" asked Coo-ee-oh, arching herneck gracefully and spreading her diamond-sprinkledwings. "I can see my reflection in the water, and I'msure there is no bird nor beast, nor human asmagnificent as I am!"

"How shall we get back to the island, your Majesty?"pleaded Ervic.

"When my fame spreads throughout the land, peoplewill travel from all parts of this lake to look upon myloveliness," said Coo-ee-oh, shaking her feathers tomake the diamonds glitter more brilliantly.

"But, your Majesty, we must go home and we do notknow how to get there," Ervic persisted.

"My eyes," remarked the Diamond Swan, "arewonderfully blue and bright and will charm allbeholders."

"Tell us how to make the boat go -- how to get backinto the island," begged Ervic and the others criedjust as earnestly: "Tell us, Coo-ee-oh; tell us!"

"I don't know," replied the Queen in a careless tone.

"You are a magic-worker, a sorceress, a witch!"

"I was, of course, when I was a girl," she said,bending her head over the clear water to catch herreflection in it; "but now I've forgotten all suchfoolish things as magic. Swans are lovelier than girls,especially when they're sprinkled with diamonds. Don'tyou think so?" And she gracefully swam away, withoutseeming to care whether they answered or not.

Ervic and his companions were in despair. They sawplainly that Coo-ee-oh could not or would not helpthem. The former Queen had no further thought for herisland, her people, or her wonderful magic; she wasonly intent on admiring her own beauty.

"Truly," said Ervic, in a gloomy voice, "theFlatheads have conquered us!"

* * * * * * * *

Some of these events had been witnessed by Ozmaand Dorothy and Lady Aurex, who had left the houseand gone close to the glass of the dome, in order to seewhat was going on. Many of the Skeezers had alsocrowded against the dome, wondering what wouldhappen next. Although their vision was to an extentblurred by the water and the necessity of lookingupward at an angle, they had observed the main pointsof the drama enacted above. They saw Queen Coo-ee-oh's submarine come to the surface and open; theysaw the Queen standing erect to throw her magic rope;they saw her sudden transformation into a DiamondSwan, and a cry of amazement went up from theSkeezers inside the dome.

"Good!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I hate that old Su-dic,but I'm glad Coo-ee-oh is punished."

"This is a dreadful misfortune!" cried Lady Aurex,pressing her hands upon her heart.

"Yes," agreed Ozma, nodding her head thoughtfully;"Coo-ee-oh's misfortune will prove a terrible blow toher people."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Dorothy insurprise. "Seems to me the Skeezers are in luck to losetheir cruel Queen."

"If that were all you would be right," responded LadyAurex; "and if the island were above water it would notbe so serious. But here we all are, at the bottom ofthe lake, and fast prisoners in this dome."

"Can't you raise the island?" inquired Dorothy.

"No. Only Coo-ee-oh knew how to do that," was theanswer.

"We can try," insisted Dorothy. "If it can be made togo down, it can be made to come up. The machinery isstill here, I suppose.

"Yes; but the machinery works by magic, and Coo-ee-ohwould never share her secret power with any one of us."

Dorothy's face grew grave; but she was thinking.

"Ozma knows a lot of magic," she said.

"But not that kind of magic," Ozma replied.

"Can't you learn how, by looking at the machinery?"

"I'm afraid not, my dear. It isn't fairy magic atall; it is witchcraft."

"Well," said Dorothy, turning to Lady Aurex, "you saythere are other sub-sub-sinking boats. We can get inone of those, and shoot out to the top of the water,like Coo-ee-oh did, and so escape. And then we can helpto rescue all the Skeezers down here."

"No one knows how to work the under-water boats butthe Queen," declared Lady Aurex.

"Isn't there any door or window in this dome that wecould open?"

"No; and, if there were, the water would rush into flood the dome, and we could not get out."

"The Skeezers," said Ozma, "could not drown; theyonly get wet and soggy and in that condition they wouldbe very uncomfortable and unhappy. But you are a mortalgirl, Dorothy, and if your Magic Belt protected youfrom death you would have to lie forever at the bottomof the lake."

"No, I'd rather die quickly," asserted the littlegirl. "But there are doors in the basement that open --to let out the bridges and the boats -- and that wouldnot flood the dome, you know."

"Those doors open by a magic word, and only Coo-ee-ohknows the word that must be uttered," said Lady Aurex.

"Dear me!" exclaimed Dorothy, "that dreadful Queen'switchcraft upsets all my plans to escape. I guess I'llgive it up, Ozma, and let you save us."

Ozma smiled, but her smile was not so cheerful asusual. The Princess of Oz found herself confronted witha serious problem, and although she had no thought ofdespairing she realized that the Skeezers and theirisland, as well as Dorothy and herself, were in gravetrouble and that unless she could find a means to savethem they would be lost to the Land of Oz for allfuture time.

"In such a dilemma," said she, musingly, "nothing isgained by haste. Careful thought may aid us, and so maythe course of events. The unexpected is always likelyto happen, and cheerful patience is better thanreckless action."

"All right," returned Dorothy; "take your time, Ozma;there's no hurry. How about some breakfast, LadyAurex?"

Their hostess led them back to the house, where sheordered her trembling servants to prepare and servebreakfast. All the Skeezers were frightened and anxiousover the transformation of their Queen into a swan.Coo-ee-oh was feared and hated, but they had dependedon her magic to conquer the Flatheads and she was theonly one who could raise their island to the surface ofthe lake again.

Before breakfast was over several of the leadingSkeezers came to Aurex to ask her advice and toquestion Princess Ozma, of whom they knew nothingexcept that she claimed to be a fairy and the Ruler ofall the land, including the Lake of the Skeezers.

"If what you told Queen Coo-ee-oh was the truth,"they said to her, "you are our lawful mistress, and wemay depend on you to get us out of our difficulties."

"I will try to do that" Ozma graciously assured them,"but you must remember that the powers of fairies aregranted them to bring comfort and happiness to all whoappeal to them. On the contrary, such magic as Coo-ee-oh knew and practiced is unlawful witchcraft and herarts are such as no fairy would condescend to use.However, it is sometimes necessary to consider evil inorder to accomplish good, and perhaps by studying Coo-ee-oh's tools and charms of witchcraft I may be able tosave us. Do you promise to accept me as your Ruler andto obey my commands?"

They promised willingly.

"Then," continued Ozma, "I will go to Coo-ee-oh'spalace and take possession of it. Perhaps what I findthere will be of use to me. In the meantime tell allthe Skeezers to fear nothing, but have patience. Letthem return to their homes and perform their dailytasks as usual. Coo-ee-oh's loss may not prove amisfortune, but rather a blessing."

This speech cheered the Skeezers amazingly. Really,they had no one now to depend upon but Ozma, and inspite of their dangerous position their hearts werelightened by the transformation and absence of theircruel Queen.

They got out their brass band and a grand processionescorted Ozma and Dorothy to the palace, where all ofCoo-ee-oh's former servants were eager to wait uponthem. Ozma invited Lady Aurex to stay at the palacealso, for she knew all about the Skeezers and theirisland and had also been a favorite of the formerQueen, so her advice and information were sure to provevaluable.

Ozma was somewhat disappointed in what she found inthe palace. One room of Coo-ee-oh's private suite wasentirely devoted to the practice of witchcraft, andhere were countless queer instruments and jars ofointments and bottles of potions labeled with queernames, and strange machines that Ozma could not guessthe use of, and pickled toads and snails and lizards,and a shelf of books that were written in blood, but ina language which the Ruler of Oz did not know.

"I do not see," said Ozma to Dorothy, who accompaniedher in her search, "how Coo-ee-oh knew the use of themagic tools she stole from the three Adept Witches.Moreover, from all reports these Adepts practiced onlygood witchcraft, such as would be helpful to theirpeople, while Coo-ee-oh performed only evil."

"Perhaps she turned the good things to evil uses?"suggested Dorothy.

"Yes, and with the knowledge she gained Coo-ee-ohdoubtless invented many evil things quite unknown tothe good Adepts, who are now fishes," added Ozma. "Itis unfortunate for us that the Queen kept her secretsso closely guarded, for no one but herself could useany of these strange things gathered in this room."

"Couldn't we capture the Diamond Swan and make hertell the secrets?" asked Dorothy.

"No; even were we able to capture her, Coo-ee-oh nowhas forgotten all the magic she ever knew. But until weourselves escape from this dome we could not capturethe Swan, and were we to escape we would have no use forCoo-ee-oh's magic."

"That's a fact," admitted Dorothy. "But -- say, Ozma,here's a good idea! Couldn't we capture the threefishes -- the gold and silver and bronze ones, andcouldn't you transform 'em back to their own shapes,and then couldn't the three Adepts get us out of here?"

"You are not very practical, Dorothy dear. It wouldbe as hard for us to capture the three fishes, fromamong all the other fishes in the lake, as to capturethe Swan."

"But if we could, it would be more help to us,"persisted the little girl.

"That is true," answered Ozma, smiling at herfriend's eagerness. "You find a way to catch the fish,and I'll promise when they are caught to restore themto their proper forms."

"I know you think I can't do it," replied Dorothy,"but I'm going to try."

She left the palace and went to a place where shecould look through a clear pane of the glass dome intothe surrounding water. Immediately she becameinterested in the queer sights that met her view.

The Lake of the Skeezers was inhabited by fishes ofmany kinds and many sizes. The water was so transparentthat the girl could see for a long distance and thefishes came so close to the glass of the dome thatsometimes they actually touched it. On the white sandsat the bottom of the lake were star-fish, lobsters,crabs and many shell fish of strange shapes and withshells of gorgeous hues. The water foliage was ofbrilliant colors and to Dorothy it resembled a splendidgarden.

But the fishes were the most interesting of all. Somewere big and lazy, floating slowly along or lying atrest with just their fins waving. Many with big roundeyes looked full at the girl as she watched them andDorothy wondered if they could hear her through theglass if she spoke to them. In Oz, where all theanimals and birds can talk, many fishes are able totalk also, but usually they are more stupid than birdsand animals because they think slowly and haven't muchto talk about.

In the Lake of the Skeezers the fish of smaller sizewere more active than the big ones and darted quicklyin and out among the swaying weeds, as if they hadimportant business and were in a hurry. It was amongthe smaller varieties that Dorothy hoped to spy thegold and silver and bronze fishes. She had an idea thethree would keep together, being companions now as theywere in their natural forms, but such a multitude offishes constantly passed, the scene shifting everymoment, that she was not sure she would notice themeven if they appeared in view. Her eyes couldn't lookin all directions and the fishes she sought might be onthe other side of the dome, or far away in the lake.

"P'raps, because they were afraid of Coo-ee-oh,they've hid themselves somewhere, and don't know theirenemy has been transformed," she reflected.

She watched the fishes for a long time, until shebecame hungry and went back to the palace for lunch.But she was not discouraged.

"Anything new, Ozma?" she asked.

"No, dear. Did you discover the three fishes?"

"Not yet. But there isn't anything better for me todo, Ozma, so I guess I'll go back and watch again."