Chapter Twenty-Two. The Sunken Island

Glinda of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

As soon as they had breakfasted the next morning, Glinda and the
Wizard and the three Adepts went down to the shore of the lake and
formed a line with their faces toward the submerged island. All the
others came to watch them, but stood at a respectful distance in the
background.

At the right of the Sorceress stood Audah and Aurah, while at
the left stood the Wizard and Aujah. Together they stretched their
arms over the water's edge and in unison the five chanted a rhythmic
incantation.

This chant they repeated again and again, swaying their arms
gently from side to side, and in a few minutes the watchers behind
them noticed that the lake had begun to recede from the shore. Before
long the highest point of the dome appeared above the water.
Gradually the water fell, making the dome appear to rise. When it was
three or four feet above the surface Glinda gave the signal to stop,
for their work had been accomplished.

The blackened submarine was now entirely out of water, but Uncle
Henry and Cap'n Bill managed to push it into the lake. Glinda, the
Wizard, Ervic and the Adepts got into the boat, taking with them a
coil of strong rope, and at the command of the Sorceress the craft
cleaved its way through the water toward the part of the Dome which
was now visible.

"There's still plenty of water for the fish to swim in,"
observed the Wizard as they rode along. "They might like more but I'm
sure they can get along until we have raised the island and can fill
up the lake again."

The boat touched gently on the sloping glass of the Dome, and
the Wizard took some tools from his black bag and quickly removed one
large pane of glass, thus making a hole large enough for their bodies
to pass through. Stout frames of steel supported the glass of the
Dome, and around one of these frames the Wizard tied the end of a
rope.

"I'll go down first," said he, "for while I'm not as spry as
Cap'n Bill I'm sure I can manage it easily. Are you sure the rope is
long enough to reach the bottom?"

"Quite sure," replied the Sorceress.

So the Wizard let down the rope and climbing through the opening
lowered himself down, hand over hand, clinging to the rope with his
legs and feet. Below in the streets of the village were gathered all
the Skeezers, men, women and children, and you may be sure that Ozma
and Dorothy, with Lady Aurex, were filled with joy that their friends
were at last coming to their rescue.

The Queen's palace, now occupied by Ozma, was directly in the
center of the Dome, so that when the rope was let down the end of it
came just in front of the palace entrance. Several Skeezers held fast
to the rope's end to steady it and the Wizard reached the ground in
safety. He hugged first Ozma and then Dorothy, while all the Skeezers
cheered as loud as they could.

The Wizard now discovered that the rope was long enough to reach
from the top of the Dome to the ground when doubled, so he tied a
chair to one end of the rope and called to Glinda to sit in the chair
while he and some of the Skeezers lowered her to the pavement. In
this way the Sorceress reached the ground quite comfortably and the
three Adepts and Ervic soon followed her.

The Skeezers quickly recognized the three Adepts at Magic, whom
they had learned to respect before their wicked Queen betrayed them,
and welcomed them as friends. All the inhabitants of the village had
been greatly frightened by their imprisonment under water, but now
realized that an attempt was to be made to rescue them.

Glinda, the Wizard and the Adepts followed Ozma and Dorothy into
the palace, and they asked Lady Aurex and Ervic to join them. After
Ozma had told of her adventures in trying to prevent war between the
Flatheads and the Skeezers, and Glinda had told all about the Rescue
Expedition and the restoration of the three Adepts by the help of
Ervic, a serious consultation was held as to how the island could be
made to rise.

"I've tried every way in my power," said Ozma, "but Coo-ee-oh
used a very unusual sort of magic which I do not understand. She
seems to have prepared her witchcraft in such a way that a spoken
word is necessary to accomplish her designs, and these spoken words
are known only to herself."

"That is a method we taught her," declared Aurah the Adept.

"I can do no more, Glinda," continued Ozma, "so I wish you would
try what your sorcery can accomplish."

"First, then," said Glinda, "let us visit the basement of the
island, which I am told is underneath the village."

A flight of marble stairs led from one of Coo-ee-oh's private
rooms down to the basement, but when the party arrived all were
puzzled by what they saw. In the center of a broad, low room, stood a
mass of great cog- wheels, chains and pulleys, all interlocked and
seeming to form a huge machine; but there was no engine or other
motive power to make the wheels turn.

"This, I suppose, is the means by which the island is lowered or
raised," said Ozma, "but the magic word which is needed to move the
machinery is unknown to us."

The three Adepts were carefully examining the mass of wheels,
and soon the golden-haired one said:

"These wheels do not control the island at all. On the contrary,
one set of them is used to open the doors of the little rooms where
the submarines are kept, as may be seen from the chains and pulleys
used. Each boat is kept in a little room with two doors, one to the
basement room where we are now and the other letting into the
lake.

"When Coo-ee-oh used the boat in which she attacked the
Flatheads, she first commanded the basement door to open and with her
followers she got into the boat and made the top close over them.
Then the basement door being closed, the outer door was slowly
opened, letting the water fill the room to float the boat, which then
left the island, keeping under water."

"But how could she expect to get back again?" asked the
Wizard.

"Why the boat would enter the room filled with water and after
the outer door was closed a word of command started a pump which
pumped all the water from the room. Then the boat would open and
Coo-ee-oh could enter the basement."

"I see," said the Wizard. "It is a clever contrivance, but won't
work unless one knows the magic words."

"Another part of this machinery," explained the white-haired
Adept, "is used to extend the bridge from the island to the mainland.
The steel bridge is in a room much like that in which the boats are
kept, and at Coo-ce-oh's command it would reach out, joint by joint,
until its far end touched the shore of the lake. The same magic
command would make the bridge return to its former position. Of
course the bridge could not be used unless the island was on the
surface of the water."

"But how do you suppose Coo-ee-oh managed to sink the island,
and make it rise again?" inquired Glinda.

This the Adepts could not yet explain. As nothing more could be
learned from the basement they mounted the steps to the Queen's
private suite again, and Ozma showed them to a special room where
Coo-ee-oh kept her magical instruments and performed all her arts of
witchcraft.