shore, Coo-ee-oh had
commanded them, together with their friend Ervic, to go with her in the
submarine to conquer the Su-dic, and how the boat had shot out from the
basement of the sunken isle, obeying a magic word, and risen to the
surface, where it opened and floated upon the water.

Then followed the account of how the Su-dic had transformed Coo-ee-oh
into a swan, after which she had forgotten all the witchcraft she ever
knew. The young men told how, in the night when they were asleep, their
comrade Ervic had mysteriously disappeared, while the boat in some
strange manner had floated to the shore and stranded upon the beach.

That was all they knew. They had searched in vain for three days for
Ervic. As their island was under water and they could not get back to
it, the three Skeezers had no place to go, and so had waited patiently
beside their boat for something to happen.

Being questioned by Glinda and the Wizard, they told all they knew
about Ozma and Dorothy and declared the two girls were still in the
village under the Great Dome. They were quite safe and would be well
cared for by Lady Aurex, now that the Queen who opposed them was out of
the way.

When they had gleaned all the information they could from these
Skeezers, the Wizard said to Glinda:

"If you find you can make this boat obey your sorcery, you could have
it return to the island, submerge itself, and enter the door in the
basement from which it came. But I cannot see that our going to the
sunken island would enable our friends to escape. We would only Join
them as prisoners."

"Not so, friend Wizard," replied Glinda. "If the boat would obey my
commands to enter the basement door, it would also obey my commands to
come out again, and I could bring Ozma and Dorothy back with me."

"And leave all of our people still imprisoned?" asked one of the
Skeezers reproachfully.

"By making several trips in the boat, Glinda could fetch all your
people to the shore," replied the Wizard.

"But what could they do then?" inquired another Skeezer. "They would
have no homes and no place to go, and would be at the mercy of their
enemies, the Flatheads."

"That is true," said Glinda the Good. "And as these people are Ozma's
subjects, I think she would refuse to escape with Dorothy and leave the
others behind, or to abandon the island which is the lawful home of the
Skeezers. I believe the best plan will be to summon the three fishes
and learn from them how