ooks and recipes
of his famous great-grandfather, which had been hidden away in the
attic of his house. So he began to study the papers and books and to
practice magic, and in time he became so skillful that, as I said, he
scorned our city and built a solitary castle for himself."

"Do you think," asked Dorothy anxiously, "that Ugu the Shoemaker would
be wicked enough to steal our Ozma of Oz?"

"And the Magic Picture?" asked Trot.

"And the Great Book of Records of Glinda the Good?" asked Betsy.

"And my own magic tools?" asked the Wizard.

"Well," replied the Czarover, "I won't say that Ugu is wicked, exactly,
but he is very ambitious to become the most powerful magician in the
world, and so I suppose he would not be too proud to steal any magic
things that belonged to anybody else--if he could manage to do so."

"But how about Ozma? Why would he wish to steal HER?" questioned
Dorothy.

"Don't ask me, my dear. Ugu doesn't tell me why he does things, I
assure you."

"Then we must go and ask him ourselves," declared the little girl.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," advised the Czarover, looking first
at the three girls and then at the boy and the little Wizard and
finally at the stuffed Patchwork Girl. "If Ugu has really stolen your
Ozma, he will probably keep her a prisoner, in spite of all your
threats or entreaties. And with all his magical knowledge he would be
a dangerous person to attack. Therefore, if you are wise, you will go
home again and find a new Ruler for the Emerald City and the Land of
Oz. But perhaps it isn't Ugu the Shoemaker who has stolen your Ozma."

"The only way to settle that question," replied the Wizard, "is to go
to Ugu's castle and see if Ozma is there. If she is, we will report
the matter to the great Sorceress Glinda the Good, and I'm pretty sure
she will find a way to rescue our darling ruler from the Shoemaker."

"Well, do as you please," said the Czarover, "but if you are all
transformed into hummingbirds or caterpillars, don't blame me for not
warning you."

They stayed the rest of that day in the City of Herku and were fed at
the royal table of the Czarover and given sleeping rooms in his palace.
The strong monarch treated them very nicely and gave the Wizard a
little golden vial of zosozo to use if ever he or any of his party
wished to acquire great strength.

Even at the last, the Czarover tried to persuade them not to go near
Ugu the Shoemaker, but they we