cannot use any of you to my advantage, but as you
have insisted on coming I hope you will make the afternoon call as brief
as possible. It won't take long to transact your business with me. You
will ask me for Ozma, and my reply will be that you may find her--if you
can."

"Sir," answered the Wizard, in a tone of rebuke, "you are a very wicked
and cruel person. I suppose you imagine, because you have stolen this
poor woman's dishpan and all the best magic in Oz, that you are more
powerful than we are and will be able to triumph over us."

"Yes," said Ugu the Shoemaker, slowly filling his pipe with fresh
tobacco from a silver bowl that stood beside him, "that is exactly what
I imagine. It will do you no good to demand from me the girl who was
formerly the Ruler of Oz, because I will not tell you where I have
hidden her--and you can't guess in a thousand years. Neither will I
restore to you any of the magic I have captured. I am not so foolish.
But bear this in mind: I mean to be the Ruler of Oz myself, hereafter,
so I advise you to be careful how you address your future Monarch."

"Ozma is still Ruler of Oz, wherever you may have hidden her," declared
the Wizard. "And bear this in mind, miserable Shoemaker: We intend to
find her and to rescue her, in time, but our first duty and pleasure
will be to conquer you and then punish you for your misdeeds."

"Very well; go ahead and conquer," said Ugu. "I'd really like to see how
you can do it."

Now, although the little Wizard had spoken so boldly, he had at the
moment no idea how they might conquer the magician. He had that morning
given the Frogman, at his request, a dose of zosozo from his bottle, and
the Frogman had promised to fight a good fight if it was necessary; but
the Wizard knew that strength alone could not avail against magical
arts. The toy Bear King seemed to have some pretty good magic, however,
and the Wizard depended to an extent on that. But something ought to be
done right away, and the Wizard didn't know what it was.

While he considered this perplexing question and the others stood
looking at him as their leader, a queer thing happened. The floor of the
great circular hall, on which they were standing, suddenly began to tip.
Instead of being flat and level it became a slant, and the slant grew
steeper and steeper until none of the party could manage to stand upon
it. Presently they all slid down to the wall, which was now under them,
and then it be