Lady Aurex, and that same day the ceremony of
crowning the new Queen was held and Aurex was installed as mistress of
the palace.

For her Prime Minister the Queen selected Ervic, for the three Adepts
had told of his good judgment, faithfulness and cleverness, and all the
Skeezers approved the appointment.

Glinda, the Wizard and the Adepts stood on the bridge and recited an
incantation that quite filled the lake with water again, and the
Scarecrow and the Patchwork Girl climbed to the top of the Great Dome
and replaced the pane of glass that had been removed to allow Glinda
and her followers to enter.

When evening came Ozma ordered a great feast prepared, to which every
Skeezer was invited. The village was beautifully decorated and
brilliantly lighted and there was music and dancing until a late hour
to celebrate the liberation of the people. For the Skeezers had been
freed, not only from the water of the lake but from the cruelty of
their former Queen.

As the people from the Emerald City prepared the next morning to depart
Queen Aurex said to Ozma:

"There is only one thing I now fear for my people, and that is the
enmity of the terrible Su-dic of the Flatheads. He is liable to come
here at any time and try to annoy us, and my Skeezers are peaceful
folks and unable to fight the wild and wilful Flatheads."

"Do not worry," returned Ozma, reassuringly. "We intend to stop on our
way at the Flatheads' Enchanted Mountain and punish the Su-dic for his
misdeeds."

That satisfied Aurex and when Ozma and her followers trooped over the
bridge to the shore, having taken leave of their friends, all the
Skeezers cheered them and waved their hats and handkerchiefs, and the
band played and the departure was indeed a ceremony long to be
remembered.

The three Adepts at Magic, who had formerly ruled the Flatheads wisely
and considerately, went with Princess Ozma and her people, for they had
promised Ozma to stay on the mountain and again see that the laws were
enforced.

Glinda had been told all about the curious Flatheads and she had
consulted with the Wizard and formed a plan to render them more
intelligent and agreeable.

When the party reached the mountain Ozma and Dorothy showed them how to
pass around the invisible wall--which had been built by the Flatheads
after the Adepts were transformed--and how to gain the up-and-down
stairway that led to the mountain top.

The Su-dic had watched the approach of the party