No Ruler ever had such a queer assortment of advisersas the Princess Ozma had gathered about her throne.Indeed, in no other country could such amazing peopleexist. But Ozma loved them for their peculiarities andcould trust every one of them.

First there was the Tin Woodman. Every bit of him wastin, brightly polished. All his joints were kept welloiled and moved smoothly. He carried a gleaming axe toprove he was a woodman, but seldom had cause to use itbecause he lived in a magnificent tin castle in theWinkie Country of Oz and was the Emperor of all theWinkies. The Tin Woodman's name was Nick Chopper. Hehad a very good mind, but his heart was not of muchaccount, so he was very careful to do nothing unkind orto hurt anyone's feelings.

Another counsellor was Scraps, the Patchwork Girl ofOz, who was made of a gaudy patchwork quilt, cut intoshape and stuffed with cotton. This Patchwork Girl wasvery intelligent, but so full of fun and mad pranksthat a lot of more stupid folks thought she must becrazy. Scraps was jolly under all conditions, howevergrave they might be, but her laughter and good spiritswere of value in cheering others and in her seeminglycareless remarks much wisdom could often be found.

Then there was the Shaggy Man -- shaggy from head tofoot, hair and whiskers, clothes and shoes -- but verykind and gentle and one of Ozma's most loyalsupporters.

Tik-Tok was there, a copper man with machinery insidehim, so cleverly constructed that he moved, spoke andthought by three separate clock-works. Tik-Tok was veryreliable because he always did exactly what he waswound up to do, but his machinery was liable to rundown at times and then he was quite helpless untilwound up again.

A different sort of person was Jack Pumpkinhead, oneof Ozma's oldest friends and her companion on manyadventures. Jack's body was very crude and awkward,being formed of limbs of trees of different sizes,jointed with wooden pegs. But it was a substantial bodyand not likely to break or wear out, and when it wasdressed the clothes covered much of its roughness. Thehead of Jack Pumpkinhead was, as you have guessed, aripe pumpkin, with the eyes, nose and mouth carved uponone side. The pumpkin was stuck on Jack's wooden neckand was liable to get turned sidewise or backward andthen he would have to straighten it with his woodenhands.

The worst thing about this sort of a head was that itdid not keep well and was sure to spoil sooner orlater. So Jack's main business was to grow a field offine pumpkins each year, and always before his old headspoiled he would select a fresh pumpkin from the fieldand carve the features on it very neatly, and have itready to replace the old head whenever it becamenecessary. He didn't always carve it the same way, sohis friends never knew exactly what sort of anexpression they would find on his face. But there wasno mistaking him, because he was the only pumpkin-headed man alive in the Land of Oz.

A one-legged sailor-man was a member of Ozma'scouncil. His name was Cap'n Bill and he had come to theLand of Oz with Trot, and had been made welcome onaccount of his cleverness, honesty and good nature. Hewore a wooden leg to replace the one he had lost andwas a great friend of all the children in Oz because hecould whittle all sorts of toys out of wood with hisbig jack-knife.

Professor H. M. Wogglebug, T. E., was another memberof the council. The "H. M." meant Highly Magnified, forthe Professor was once a little bug, who becamemagnified to the size of a man and always remained so.The "T. E." meant that he was Thoroughly Educated. Hewas at the head of Princess Ozma's Royal AthleticCollege, and so that the students would not have tostudy and so lose much time that could be devoted toathletic sports, such as football, baseball and thelike, Professor Wogglebug had invented the famousEducational Pills. If one of the college students tooka Geography Pill after breakfast, he knew his geographylesson in an instant; if he took a Spelling Pill he atonce knew his spelling lesson, and an Arithmetic Pillenabled the student to do any kind of sum withouthaving to think about it.

These useful pills made the college very popular andtaught the boys and girls of Oz their lessons in theeasiest possible way. In spite of this, ProfessorWogglebug was not a favorite outside his college, forhe was very conceited and admired himself so much anddisplayed his cleverness and learning so constantly,that no one cared to associate with him. Ozma found himof value in her councils, nevertheless.

Perhaps the most splendidly dressed of all thosepresent was a great frog as large as a man, called theFrogman, who was noted for his wise sayings. He hadcome to the Emerald City from the Yip Country of Oz andwas a guest of honor. His long-tailed coat was ofvelvet, his vest of satin and his trousers of finestsilk. There were diamond buckles on his shoes and hecarried a gold-headed cane and a high silk hat. All ofthe bright colors were represented in his rich attire,so it tired one's eyes to look at him for long, untilone became used to his splendor.

The best farmer in all Oz was Uncle Henry, who wasDorothy's own uncle, and who now lived near the EmeraldCity with his wife Aunt Em. Uncle Henry taught the Ozpeople how to grow the finest vegetables and fruits andgrains and was of much use to Ozma in keeping the RoyalStorehouses well filled. He, too, was a counsellor.

The reason I mention the little Wizard of Oz last isbecause he was the most important man in the Land ofOz. He wasn't a big man in size but he was a man inpower and intelligence and second only to Glinda theGood in all the mystic arts of magic. Glinda had taughthim, and the Wizard and the Sorceress were the onlyones in Oz permitted by law to practice wizardry andsorcery, which they applied only to good uses and forthe benefit of the people.

The Wizard wasn't exactly handsome but he waspleasant to look at. His bald head was as shiny as ifit had been varnished; there was always a merry twinklein his eyes and he was as spry as a schoolboy. Dorothysays the reason the Wizard is not as powerful as Glindais because Glinda didn't teach him all she knows, butwhat the Wizard knows he knows very well and so heperforms some very remarkable magic. The ten I havementioned assembled, with the Scarecrow and Glinda, inOzma's throne room, right after dinner that evening,and the Sorceress told them all she knew of the plightof Ozma and Dorothy

"Of course we must rescue them," she continued, "andthe sooner they are rescued the better pleased theywill be; but what we must now determine is how they canbe saved. That is why I have called you together incouncil."

"The easiest way," remarked the Shaggy Man, "is toraise the sunken island of the Skeezers to the top ofthe water again."

"Tell me how?" said Glinda.

"I don't know how, your Highness, for I have neverraised a sunken island."

"We might all get under it and lift," suggestedProfessor Wogglebug.

"How can we get under it when it rests on the bottomof the lake?" asked the Sorceress.

"Couldn't we throw a rope around it and pull itashore?" inquired Jack Pumpkinhead.

"Why not pump the water out of the lake?" suggestedthe Patchwork Girl with a laugh.

"Do be sensible!" pleaded Glinda. "This is a seriousmatter, and we must give it serious thought."

"How big is the lake and how big is the island?" wasthe Frogman's question.

"None of us can tell, for we have not been there."

"In that case," said the Scarecrow, "it appears to mewe ought to go to the Skeezer country and examine itcarefully."

"Quite right," agreed the Tin Woodman.

"We-will-have-to-go-there-any-how," remarked Tik-Tokin his jerky machine voice.

"The question is which of us shall go, and how manyof us?" said the Wizard.

"I shall go of course," declared the Scarecrow.

"And I," said Scraps.

"It is my duty to Ozma to go," asserted the TinWoodman.

"I could not stay away, knowing our loved Princess isin danger," said the Wizard.

"We all feel like that," Uncle Henry said.

Finally one and all present decided to go to theSkeezer country, with Glinda and the little Wizard tolead them. Magic must meet magic in order to conquerit, so these two skillful magic-workers were necessaryto insure the success of the expedition.

They were all ready to start at a moment's notice,for none had any affairs of importance to attend to.Jack was wearing a newly made Pumpkin-head and theScarecrow had recently been stuffed with fresh straw.Tik-Tok's machinery was in good running order and theTin Woodman always was well oiled.

"It is quite a long journey," said Glinda, "and whileI might travel quickly to the Skeezer country by meansof my stork chariot the rest of you will be obliged towalk. So, as we must keep together, I will send mychariot back to my castle and we will plan to leave theEmerald City at sunrise to-morrow."