exist in the Land of Oz, but
Jinxland was so far removed from the center of Ozma's dominions, and so
absolutely cut off from it by the steep mountains and the bottomless
gulf, that the laws of Oz were not obeyed very well in that country. So
there were several witches in Jinxland who were the terror of the
people, but King Krewl favored them and permitted them to exercise
their evil sorcery.

Blinkie was the leader of all the other witches and therefore the most
hated and feared. The King used her witchcraft at times to assist him
in carrying out his cruelties and revenge, but he was always obliged to
pay Blinkie large sums of money or heaps of precious jewels before she
would undertake an enchantment. This made him hate the old woman almost
as much as his subjects did, but to-day Lord Googly-Goo had agreed to
pay the witch's price, so the King greeted her with gracious favor.

"Can you destroy the love of Princess Gloria for the gardener's boy?"
inquired his Majesty.

The Wicked Witch thought about it before she replied:

"That's a hard question to answer. I can do lots of clever magic, but
love is a stubborn thing to conquer. When you think you've killed it,
it's liable to bob up again as strong as ever. I believe love and cats
have nine lives. In other words, killing love is a hard job, even for a
skillful witch, but I believe I can do something that will answer your
purpose just as well."

"What is that?" asked the King.

"I can freeze the girl's heart. I've got a special incantation for
that, and when Gloria's heart is thoroughly frozen she can no longer
love Pon."

"Just the thing!" exclaimed Googly-Goo, and the King was likewise much
pleased.

They bargained a long time as to the price, but finally the old
courtier agreed to pay the Wicked Witch's demands. It was arranged that
they should take Gloria to Blinkie's house the next day, to have her
heart frozen.

Then King Krewl mentioned to the old hag the strangers who had that day
arrived in Jinxland, and said to her:

"I think the two children--the boy and the girl--are unable to harm me,
but I have a suspicion that the wooden-legged man is a powerful wizard."

The witch's face wore a troubled look when she heard this.

"If you are right," she said, "this wizard might spoil my incantation
and interfere with me in other ways. So it will be best for me to meet
this stranger at once and match my magic against his, to decide which
is the stronger."