agic Belt
without warning them, and when they have arrived you can explain to
them whatever they do not understand."

"Perhaps that's best," decided Dorothy. "There isn't much use in their
staying at the farm until they are put out, 'cause it's much nicer
here."

"Then to-morrow morning they shall come here," said Princess Ozma. "I
will order Jellia Jamb, who is the palace housekeeper, to have rooms
all prepared for them, and after breakfast we will get the Magic Belt
and by its aid transport your uncle and aunt to the Emerald City."

"Thank you, Ozma!" cried Dorothy, kissing her friend gratefully.

"And now," Ozma proposed, "let us take a walk in the gardens before we
dress for dinner. Come, Dorothy dear!"

4. How The Nome King Planned Revenge

The reason most people are bad is because they do not try to be good.
Now, the Nome King had never tried to be good, so he was very bad
indeed. Having decided to conquer the Land of Oz and to destroy the
Emerald City and enslave all its people, King Roquat the Red kept
planning ways to do this dreadful thing, and the more he planned the
more he believed he would be able to accomplish it.

About the time Dorothy went to Ozma the Nome King called his Chief
Steward to him and said:

"Kaliko, I think I shall make you the General of my armies."

"I think you won't," replied Kaliko, positively.

"Why not?" inquired the King, reaching for his scepter with the big
sapphire.

"Because I'm your Chief Steward and know nothing of warfare," said
Kaliko, preparing to dodge if anything were thrown at him. "I manage
all the affairs of your kingdom better than you could yourself, and
you'll never find another Steward as good as I am. But there are a
hundred Nomes better fitted to command your army, and your Generals get
thrown away so often that I have no desire to be one of them."

"Ah, there is some truth in your remarks, Kaliko," remarked the King,
deciding not to throw the scepter. "Summon my army to assemble in the
Great Cavern."

Kaliko bowed and retired, and in a few minutes returned to say that the
army was assembled. So the King went out upon a balcony that
overlooked the Great Cavern, where fifty thousand Nomes, all armed with
swords and pikes, stood marshaled in military array.

When they were not required as soldiers all these Nomes were metal
workers and miners, and they had hammered so much at the forges and dug
so hard with pick and shovel that they