m recognizing her, in whatever form she happened to
be. The puzzle is still a puzzle, so let us go on to the wicker castle
and question the magician himself. Since it was he who stole our Ozma,
Ugu is the one who must tell us where to find her."

[Illustration]

Magic Against Magic

[Illustration]

CHAPTER 21

The Wizard's advice was good, so again they started in the direction of
the low mountain on the crest of which the wicker castle had been built.
They had been gradually advancing up hill, so now the elevation seemed
to them more like a round knoll than a mountain-top. However, the sides
of the knoll were sloping and covered with green grass, so there was a
stiff climb before them yet.

Undaunted, they plodded on and had almost reached the knoll when they
suddenly observed that it was surrounded by a circle of flame. At first
the flames barely rose above the ground, but presently they grew higher
and higher until a circle of flaming tongues of fire taller than any of
their heads quite surrounded the hill on which the wicker castle stood.
When they approached the flames the heat was so intense that it drove
them back again.

"This will never do for me!" exclaimed the Patchwork Girl. "I catch fire
very easily."

"It won't do for me, either," grumbled the Sawhorse, prancing to the
rear.

"I also object strongly to fire," said the Bear King, following the
Sawhorse to a safe distance and hugging the little Pink Bear with his
paws.

"I suppose the foolish Shoemaker imagines these blazes will stop us,"
remarked the Wizard, with a smile of scorn for Ugu. "But I am able to
inform you that this is merely a simple magic trick which the robber
stole from Glinda the Good, and by good fortune I know how to destroy
these flames, as well as how to produce them. Will some one of you
kindly give me a match?"

You may be sure the girls carried no matches, nor did the Frogman or
Cayke or any of the animals. But Button-Bright, after searching
carefully through his pockets, which contained all sorts of useful and
useless things, finally produced a match and handed it to the Wizard,
who tied it to the end of a branch which he tore from a small tree
growing near them. Then the little Wizard carefully lighted the match
and running forward thrust it into the nearest flame. Instantly the
circle of fire began to die away and soon vanished completely, leaving
the way clear for them to proceed.

"That was funny!" laugh