Chapter Twenty. A Puzzling Problem

Glinda of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

Glinda the Good, having decided to try her sorcery upon the
abandoned submarine, so that it would obey her commands, asked all of
her party, including the Skeezers, to withdraw from the shore of the
take to the line of palm trees. She kept with her only the little
Wizard of Oz, who was her pupil and knew how to assist her in her
magic rites. When they two were alone beside the stranded boat,
Glinda said to the Wizard:

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

"Yes, I always carry one in my bag," replied the Wizard. He
opened his black bag of magic tools and took out a brightly polished
skeropythrope, which he handed to the Sorceress. Glinda had also
brought a small wicker bag, containing various requirements of
sorcery, and from this she took a parcel of powder and a vial of
liquid. She poured the liquid into the skeropythrope and added the
powder. At once the skeropythrope began to sputter and emit sparks of
a violet color, which spread in all directions. The Sorceress
instantly stepped into the middle of the boat and held the instrument
so that the sparks fell all around her and covered every bit of the
blackened steel boat. At the same time Glinda crooned a weird
incantation in the language of sorcery, her voice sounding low and
musical.

After a little the violet sparks ceased, and those that had
fallen upon the boat had disappeared and left no mark upon its
surface. The ceremony was ended and Glinda returned the skeropythrope
to the Wizard, who put it away in his black bag.

"That ought to do the business all right," he said
confidently

"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 to the boat:
"Carry us across the lake, to the farther shore."

At once the boat backed off the sandy beach, turned its 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 that whence they had departed.
"Even Coo-ee-oh, with all her witchcraft, could do no better."

The Sorceress now said to the boat:

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

The boat obeyed. As it sank into the water the top sections rose
from the sides and joined together over the heads of Glinda and the
Wizard, who were thus enclosed in a water-proof chamber. There were
four glass windows in this covering, one on each side and one on
either end, so that the passengers could see exactly where they were
going. Moving under water more slowly than on the surface, the
submarine gradually approached the island and halted with its bow
pressed against the huge marble door in the basement under the Dome.
This door was tightly closed and it was evident to both Glinda and
the Wizard that it would not open to admit the underwater boat unless
a magic word was spoken by them or someone from within the basement
of the island. But what was this magic word? Neither of them
knew.

"I'm afraid," said the Wizard regretfully, "that we can't get
in, after all. Unless your sorcery can discover 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 what it is, but that will
require time. Let us go back again to our companions."

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

At Glinda's command the boat rose until it was on a level with
the glass dome that covered the Skeezer village, when the Sorceress
made it slowly circle all around the Great Dome.

Many faces were pressed against the glass from the inside,
eagerly watching the submarine, and in one place were Dorothy and
Ozma, who quickly recognized Glinda and the Wizard through the glass
windows of the boat. Glinda saw them, too, and held the boat close to
the Dome while the friends exchanged greetings in pantomime. Their
voices, unfortunately, could not be heard through the Dome and the
water and the side of the boat. The Wizard tried to make the girls
understand, through signs, that he and Glinda had come to their
rescue, and Ozma and Dorothy understood this from the very fact that
the Sorceress and the Wizard had appeared. The two girl prisoners
were smiling and in safety, and knowing this Glinda felt she could
take all the time necessary in order to effect their final rescue.

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

Realizing that it would require several days to succeed in
reaching the island raising it and liberating their friends and the
Skeezer people, Glinda now prepared a camp half way between the lake
shore and the palm trees.

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

Betsy and Trot had a tent to themselves, and Button Bright and
Ojo had another. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman paired together in
one tent and so did Jack Pumpkinhead and the Shaggy Man, Cap'n Bill
and Uncle Henry, Tik-Tok and Professor Wogglebug. Glinda had the most
splendid tent of all, except that reserved for Ozma, while the Wizard
had a little one of his own. Whenever it was meal time, tables loaded
with food magically appeared in the tents of those who were in the
habit of eating, and these complete arrangements made the rescue
party just comfortable as they would have been in their own homes.

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

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

The next day the Sorceress and the Wizard again entered the boat
and made it submerge and go to the marble 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 would be for us to gain
admittance to the Dome and then descend to the basement and see in
what manner Coo-ee-oh made the entire island sink or rise at her
command. It naturally occurred to me that the easiest way to gain
admittance would be by having the boat take us into the basement
through the marble door from which Coo-ee-oh launched it. But there
must be other ways to get inside the Dome and join Ozma and Dorothy,
and such ways we must find by study and the proper use of our powers
of magic."

"It won't be easy," declared the Wizard, "for we must not forget
that Ozma herself understands considerable magic, and has doubtless
tried to raise the island or find other means of escape from it and
failed."

"That is true," returned Glinda, "but Ozma's magic is fairy
magic, while you are a Wizard and I am a Sorceress. In this way the
three of us have a great variety of magic to work with, and if we
should all fail it will be because the island is raised and lowered
by a magic power none of us is acquainted with. My idea therefore is
to seek -- by such magic as we possess -- 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 their windows and exchanged signals
with the two imprisoned girls.

Ozma realized that her friends were doing all in their power to
rescue her and smiled an encouragement to their efforts. Dorothy
seemed a little anxious but was trying to be as brave as her
companion.

After the boat had returned to the camp and Glinda was seated in
her tent, working out various ways by which Ozma and Dorothy could be
rescued, the Wizard stood on the shore dreamily eying the outlines of
the Great Dome which showed beneath the clear water, when he raised
his eyes and saw a group of strange people approaching from around
the lake. Three were young women of stately presence, very
beautifully dressed, who moved with remarkable grace. They were
followed at a little distance by a good-looking young Skeezer.

The Wizard saw at a glance that these people might be very
important, so he advanced to meet them. The three maidens received
him graciously and the one with the golden hair said:

"I believe you are the famous Wizard of Oz, of whom I have 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 of the three
lovely visitors but he gave no sign that might embarrass them.

He understood they did not wish to be questioned, and so he made
no remarks as he led the way to Glinda's tent.

With a courtly bow the Wizard ushered the three visitors into
the gracious presence of Glinda, the Good.