rors and the like, but all were ruled over by the lovely
girl Queen of the Emerald City.

The King of Oogaboo used to be a man named Jol Jemkiph Soforth, who for
many years did all the drudgery of deciding disputes and telling his
people when to plant cabbages and pickle onions. But the King's wife
had a sharp tongue and small respect for the King, her husband;
therefore one night King Jol crept over the pass into the Land of Oz
and disappeared from Oogaboo for good and all. The Queen waited a few
years for him to return and then started in search of him, leaving her
eldest daughter, Ann Soforth, to act as Queen.

Now, Ann had not forgotten when her birthday came, for that meant a
party and feasting and dancing, but she had quite forgotten how many
years the birthdays marked. In a land where people live always, this is
not considered a cause for regret, so we may justly say that Queen Ann
of Oogaboo was old enough to make jelly--and let it go at that.

But she didn't make jelly, or do any more of the housework than she
could help. She was an ambitious woman and constantly resented the fact
that her kingdom was so tiny and her people so stupid and
unenterprising. Often she wondered what had become of her father and
mother, out beyond the pass, in the wonderful Land of Oz, and the fact
that they did not return to Oogaboo led Ann to suspect that they had
found a better place to live. So, when Salye refused to sweep the floor
of the living room in the palace, and Ann would not sweep it, either,
she said to her sister:

"I'm going away. This absurd Kingdom of Oogaboo tires me."

"Go, if you want to," answered Salye; "but you are very foolish to
leave this place."

"Why?" asked Ann.

"Because in the Land of Oz, which is Ozma's country, you will be a
nobody, while here you are a Queen."

"Oh, yes! Queen over eighteen men, twenty-seven women and forty-four
children!" returned Ann bitterly.

"Well, there are certainly more people than that in the great Land of
Oz," laughed Salye. "Why don't you raise an army and conquer them, and
be Queen of all Oz?" she asked, trying to taunt Ann and so to anger
her. Then she made a face at her sister and went into the back yard to
swing in the hammock.

Her jeering words, however, had given Queen Ann an idea. She reflected
that Oz was reported to be a peaceful country and Ozma a mere girl who
ruled with gentleness to all and was obeyed because her people loved
her. Even in Oogaboo