ard Dorothy. The Wall of Glass had disappeared the
instant Ugu became transformed.
Dorothy had meant to command the Belt to transform the magician into a
Dove of Peace, but in her excitement she forgot to say more than "dove,"
and now Ugu was not a Dove of Peace by any means, but rather a spiteful
Dove of War. His size made his sharp beak and claws very dangerous, but
Dorothy was not afraid when he came darting toward her with his talons
outstretched and his sword-like beak open.
[Illustration]
She knew the Magic Belt would protect its wearer from harm.
But the Frogman did not know that fact and became alarmed at the little
girl's seeming danger. So he gave a sudden leap and leaped full upon the
back of the great dove.
Then began a desperate struggle. The dove was as strong as Ugu had been,
and in size it was considerably bigger than the Frogman. But the Frogman
had eaten the zosozo and it had made him fully as strong as Ugu the
Dove. At the first leap he bore the dove to the floor, but the giant
bird got free and began to bite and claw the Frogman, beating him down
with its great wings whenever he attempted to rise. The thick, tough
skin of the big frog was not easily damaged, but Dorothy feared for her
champion and by again using the transformation power of the Magic Belt
she made the dove grow small, until it was no larger than a canary bird.
Ugu had not lost his knowledge of magic when he lost his shape as a man,
and he now realized it was hopeless to oppose the power of the Magic
Belt and knew that his only hope of escape lay in instant action. So he
quickly flew into the golden jeweled dishpan he had stolen from Cayke
the Cookie Cook and, as birds can talk as well as beasts or men in the
Fairyland of Oz, he muttered the magic word that was required and wished
himself in the Country of the Quadlings--which was as far away from the
wicker castle as he believed he could get.
Our friends did not know, of course, what Ugu was about to do. They saw
the dishpan tremble an instant and then disappear, the dove disappearing
with it, and although they waited expectantly for some minutes for the
magician's return, Ugu did not come back again.
"Seems to me," said the Wizard in a cheerful voice, "that we have
conquered the wicked magician more quickly than we expected to."
"Don't say 'we'--Dorothy did it!" cried the Patchwork Girl, turning
three somersaults in succession and then walking around on her hands.
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