Glinda the Good, having decided to try her sorceryupon the abandoned submarine, so that it would obey hercommands, asked all of her party, including theSkeezers, to withdraw from the shore of the take to theline of palm trees. She kept with her only the littleWizard of Oz, who was her pupil and knew how to assisther in her magic rites. When they two were alone besidethe stranded boat, Glinda said to the Wizard:

"I shall first try my magic recipe No. 1163, which isintended to make inanimate objects move at my command.Have you a skeropythrope with you?"

"Yes, I always carry one in my bag," replied theWizard. He opened his black bag of magic tools and tookout a brightly polished skeropythrope, which he handedto the Sorceress. Glinda had also brought a smallwicker bag, containing various requirements of sorcery,and from this she took a parcel of powder and a vial ofliquid. She poured the liquid into the skeropythropeand added the powder. At once the skeropythrope beganto sputter and emit sparks of a violet color, whichspread in all directions. The Sorceress instantlystepped into the middle of the boat and held theinstrument so that the sparks fell all around her andcovered every bit of the blackened steel boat. At thesame time Glinda crooned a weird incantation in thelanguage of sorcery, her voice sounding low andmusical.

After a little the violet sparks ceased, and thosethat had fallen upon the boat had disappeared and leftno mark upon its surface. The ceremony was ended andGlinda returned the skeropythrope to the Wizard, whoput it away in his black bag.

"That ought to do the business all right," he saidconfidently

"Let us make a trial and see," she replied.

So they both entered the boat and seated themselves.

Speaking in a tone of command the Sorceress said tothe boat: "Carry us across the lake, to the farthershore."

At once the boat backed off the sandy beach, turnedits prow and moved swiftly over the water.

"Very good -- very good indeed!" cried the Wizard,when the boat slowed up at the shore opposite from thatwhence they had departed. "Even Coo-ee-oh, with allher witchcraft, could do no better."

The Sorceress now said to the boat:

"Close up, submerge and carry us to the basement doorof the sunken island -- the door from which you emergedat the command of Queen Coo-ee-oh."

The boat obeyed. As it sank into the water the topsections rose from the sides and joined together overthe heads of Glinda and the Wizard, who were thusenclosed in a water-proof chamber. There were fourglass windows in this covering, one on each side andone on either end, so that the passengers could seeexactly where they were going. Moving under water moreslowly than on the surface, the submarine graduallyapproached the island and halted with its bow pressedagainst the huge marble door in the basement under theDome. This door was tightly closed and it was evidentto both Glinda and the Wizard that it would not open toadmit the underwater boat unless a magic word wasspoken by them or someone from within the basement ofthe island. But what was this magic word? Neither ofthem knew.

"I'm afraid," said the Wizard regretfully, "that wecan't get in, after all. Unless your sorcery candiscover the word to open the marble door."

"That is probably some word only known to Coo-ce-oh,"replied the Sorceress. "I may be able to discover whatit is, but that will require time. Let us go backagain to our companions."

"It seems a shame, after we have made the boat obeyus, to be balked by just a marble door," grumbled theWizard.

At Glinda's command the boat rose until it was on alevel with the glass dome that covered the Skeezervillage, when the Sorceress made it slowly circle allaround the Great Dome.

Many faces were pressed against the glass from theinside, eagerly watching the submarine, and in oneplace were Dorothy and Ozma, who quickly recognizedGlinda and the Wizard through the glass windows of theboat. Glinda saw them, too, and held the boat close tothe Dome while the friends exchanged greetings inpantomime. Their voices, unfortunately, could not beheard through the Dome and the water and the side ofthe boat. The Wizard tried to make the girlsunderstand, through signs, that he and Glinda had cometo their rescue, and Ozma and Dorothy understood thisfrom the very fact that the Sorceress and the Wizardhad appeared. The two girl prisoners were smiling andin safety, and knowing this Glinda felt she could takeall the time necessary in order to effect their finalrescue.

As nothing more could be done just then, Glindaordered the boat to return to shore and it obeyedreadily. First it ascended to the surface of the water,then the roof parted and fell into the slots at theside of the boat, and then the magic craft quickly madethe shore and beached itself on the sands at the veryspot from which it had departed at Glinda's command.All the Oz people and the Skeezers at once ran to theboat to ask if they had reached the island, and whetherthey had seen Ozma and Dorothy. The Wizard told them ofthe obstacle they had met in the way of a marble door,and how Glinda would now undertake to find a magic wayto conquer the door.

Realizing that it would require several days tosucceed in reaching the island raising it andliberating their friends and the Skeezer people, Glindanow prepared a camp half way between the lake shore andthe palm trees.

The Wizard's wizardry made a number of tents appearand the sorcery of the Sorceress furnished these tentsall complete, with beds, chairs, tables, flags, lampsand even books with which to pass idle hours. All thetents had the Royal Banner of Oz flying from thecenterpoles and one big tent, not now occupied, hadOzma's own banner moving in the breeze.

Betsy and Trot had a tent to themselves, and ButtonBright and Ojo had another. The Scarecrow and the TinWoodman paired together in one tent and so did JackPumpkinhead and the Shaggy Man, Cap'n Bill and UncleHenry, Tik-Tok and Professor Wogglebug. Glinda had themost splendid tent of all, except that reserved forOzma, while the Wizard had a little one of his own.Whenever it was meal time, tables loaded with foodmagically appeared in the tents of those who were inthe habit of eating, and these complete arrangementsmade the rescue party just comfortable as they wouldhave been in their own homes.

Far into the night Glinda sat in her tent studying aroll of mystic scrolls in search of a word that wouldopen the basement door of the island and admit her tothe Great Dome. She also made many magical experiments,hoping to discover something that would aid her. Yetthe morning found the powerful Sorceress stillunsuccessful.

Glinda's art could have opened any ordinary door, youmay be sure, but you must realize that this marble doorof the island had been commanded not to open save inobedience to one magic word, and therefore all othermagic words could have no effect upon it. The magicword that guarded the door had probably been inventedby Coo-ee-oh, who had now forgotten it. The only way,then, to gain entrance to the sunken island was tobreak the charm that held the door fast shut. If thiscould be done no magic would be required to open it.

The next day the Sorceress and the Wizard againentered the boat and made it submerge and go to themarble door, which they tried in various ways to open,but without success.

"We shall have to abandon this attempt, I think,"said Glinda. "The easiest way to raise the island wouldbe for us to gain admittance to the Dome and thendescend to the basement and see in what mannerCoo-ee-oh made the entire island sink or rise at hercommand. It naturally occurred to me that the easiestway to gain admittance would be by having the boat takeus into the basement through the marble door from whichCoo-ee-oh launched it. But there must be other ways toget inside the Dome and join Ozma and Dorothy, and suchways we must find by study and the proper use of ourpowers of magic."

"It won't be easy," declared the Wizard, "for we mustnot forget that Ozma herself understands considerablemagic, and has doubtless tried to raise the island orfind other means of escape from it and failed."

"That is true," returned Glinda, "but Ozma's magic isfairy magic, while you are a Wizard and I am aSorceress. In this way the three of us have a greatvariety of magic to work with, and if we should allfail it will be because the island is raised andlowered by a magic power none of us is acquainted with.My idea therefore is to seek -- by such magic as wepossess -- to accomplish our object in another way."

They made the circle of the Dome again in their boat,and once more saw Ozma and Dorothy through theirwindows and exchanged signals with the two imprisonedgirls.

Ozma realized that her friends were doing all intheir power to rescue her and smiled an encouragementto their efforts. Dorothy seemed a little anxious butwas trying to be as brave as her companion.

After the boat had returned to the camp and Glindawas seated in her tent, working out various ways bywhich Ozma and Dorothy could be rescued, the Wizardstood on the shore dreamily eying the outlines of theGreat Dome which showed beneath the clear water, whenhe raised his eyes and saw a group of strange peopleapproaching from around the lake. Three were youngwomen of stately presence, very beautifully dressed,who moved with remarkable grace. They were followed ata little distance by a good-looking young Skeezer.

The Wizard saw at a glance that these people might bevery important, so he advanced to meet them. The threemaidens received him graciously and the one with thegolden hair said:

"I believe you are the famous Wizard of Oz, of whom Ihave often heard. We are seeking Glinda, the Sorceress,and perhaps you can lead us to her."

"I can, and will, right gladly," answered the Wizard."Follow me, please."

The little Wizard was puzzled as to the identity ofthe three lovely visitors but he gave no sign thatmight embarrass them.

He understood they did not wish to be questioned, andso he made no remarks as he led the way to Glinda'stent.

With a courtly bow the Wizard ushered the threevisitors into the gracious presence of Glinda, theGood.