is.'
'I will not have him questioned,' declared the King in a surly voice. 'I do not intend to allow my little Pink Bear to be again insulted by your foolish doubts. He never makes a mistake.'
'Didn't he say Ozma was in that hole in the ground?' asked Betsy.
'He did, and I am certain she was there,' replied the Lavender Bear.
Scraps laughed jeeringly, and the others saw there was no use arguing with the stubborn Bear King, who seemed to have absolute faith in his Pink Bear. The Wizard, who knew that magical things can usually be depended upon and that the little Pink Bear was able to answer questions by some remarkable power of magic, thought it wise to apologize to the Lavender Bear for the unbelief of his friends, at the same time urging the King to consent to question the Pink Bear once more. Cayke and the Frogman also pleaded with the big Bear, who finally agreed, although rather ungraciously, to put the little Bear's wisdom to the test once more. So he sat the little one on his knee and turned the crank, and the Wizard himself asked the questions in a very respectful tone of voice. 'Where is Ozma?' was his first query.
'Here in this room,' answered the little Pink Bear.
They all looked around the room, but of course did not see her. 'In what part of the room is she?' was the Wizard's next question.
'In Button-Bright's pocket,' said the little Pink Bear.
This reply amazed them all, you may be sure, and although the three girls smiled and Scraps yelled 'Hoo- ray!' in derision, the Wizard turned to consider the matter with grave thoughtfulness. 'In which one of Button- Bright's pockets is Ozma?' he presently inquired.
'In the left-hand jacket pocket,' said the little Pink Bear.
'The pink one has gone crazy!' exclaimed Button-Bright, staring hard at the little bear on the big bear's knee.
'I am not so sure of that,' declared the Wizard. 'If Ozma proves to be really in your pocket, then the little Pink Bear spoke truly when he said Ozma was in that hole in the ground. For at that time you were also in the hole, and after we had pulled you out of it, the little Pink Bear said Ozma was not in the hole.'
'He never makes a mistake,' asserted the Bear King stoutly.
'Empty that pocket, Button-Bright, and let's see what's in it,' requested Dorothy.
So Button-Bright laid the contents of his left jacket pocket on the table. These proved to be a peg top, a bunch of string, a small rubber ball and a golden peach pit. 'What's this?' asked the Wizard, picking up the peach pit and examining it closely.
'Oh,' said the boy, 'I saved that to show to the girls, and then forgot all about it. It came out of a lonesome peach that I found in the orchard back yonder, and which I ate while I was lost. It looks like gold, and I never saw a peach pit like it before.'
'Nor I,' said the Wizard, 'and that makes it seem suspicious.'
All heads were bent over the golden peach pit. The Wizard turned it over several times and then took out his pocket knife and pried the pit open. As the two halves fell apart, a pink, cloud-like haze came pouring from the golden peach pit, almost filling the big room, and from the haze a form took shape and settled beside them. Then, as the haze faded away, a sweet voice said, 'Thank you, my friends!' and there before them stood their lovely girl Ruler, Ozma of Oz.
With a cry of delight, Dorothy rushed forward and embraced her. Scraps turned gleeful flipflops all around the room. Button-Bright gave a low whistle of astonishment. The Frogman took off his tall hat and bowed low before the beautiful girl who had been freed from her enchantment in so startling a manner. For a time, no sound was heard beyond the low murmur of delight that came from the amazed group, but presently the growl of the big Lavender Bear grew louder, and he said in a tone of triumph, 'He never makes a mistake!'
Chapter 25
OZMA OF OZ
'It's funny,' said Toto, standing before his friend the Lion and wagging his tail, 'but I've found my growl at last! I am positive now that it was the cruel magician who stole it.'
'Let's hear your growl,' requested the Lion.
'G-r-r-r-r-r!' said Toto.
'That is fine,' declared the big beast. 'It isn't as loud or as deep as the growl of the big Lavender Bear, but it is a very respectable growl for a small dog. Where did you find it, Toto?'
'I was smelling in the corner yonder,' said Toto, 'when suddenly a mouse ran out – and I growled.'
The others were all busy congratulating Ozma, who was very happy at being released from the confinement of the golden peach pit, where the magician had placed her with the notion that she never could be found or liberated.
'And only to think,' cried Dorothy, 'that Button-Bright has been carrying you in his pocket all this time, and we never knew it!'
'The little Pink Bear told you,' said the Bear King, 'but you wouldn't believe him.'
'Never mind, my dears,' said Ozma graciously, 'all is well that ends well, and you couldn't be expected to know I was inside the peach pit. Indeed, I feared I would remain a captive much longer than I did, for Ugu is a bold and clever magician, and he had hidden me very securely.'
'You were in a fine peach,' said Button-Bright, 'the best I ever ate.'
'The magician was foolish to make the peach so tempting,' remarked the Wizard, 'but Ozma would lend beauty to any transformation.'
'How did you manage to conquer Ugu the Shoemaker?' inquired the girl Ruler of Oz.
Dorothy started to tell the story, and Trot helped her, and Button-Bright wanted to relate it in his own way, and the Wizard tried to make it clear to Ozma, and Betsy had to remind them of important things they left out, and all together there was such a chatter that it was a wonder that Ozma understood any of it. But she listened patiently, with a smile on her lovely face at their eagerness, and presently had gleaned all the details of their adventures.
Ozma thanked the Frogman very earnestly for his assistance, and she advised Cayke the Cookie Cook to dry her weeping eyes, for she promised to take her to the Emerald City and see that her cherished dishpan was restored to her. Then the beautiful Ruler took a chain of emeralds from around her own neck and placed it around the neck of the little Pink Bear.
'Your wise answers to the questions of my friends,' said she, 'helped them to rescue me. Therefore I am deeply grateful to you and to your noble King.'
The bead eyes of the little Pink Bear stared unresponsive to this praise until the Big Lavender Bear turned the crank in its side, when it said in its squeaky voice, 'I thank Your Majesty.'
'For my part,' returned the Bear King, 'I realize that you were well worth saving, Miss Ozma, and so I am much pleased that we could be of service to you. By means of my Magic Wand I have been creating exact images of your Emerald City and your Royal Palace, and I must confess that they are more attractive than any places I have ever seen – not excepting Bear Center.'
'I would like to entertain you in my palace,' returned Ozma sweetly, 'and you are welcome to return with me and to make me a long visit, if your bear subjects can spare you from your own kingdom.'
'As for that,' answered the King, 'my kingdom causes me little worry, and I often find it somewhat tame and uninteresting. Therefore I am glad to accept your kind invitation. Corporal Waddle may be trusted to care for my bears in my absence.'
'And you'll bring the little Pink Bear?' asked Dorothy eagerly.
'Of course, my dear. I would not willingly part with him.'
They remained in the wicker castle for three days, carefully packing all the magical things that had been stolen by Ugu and also taking whatever in the way of magic the shoemaker had inherited from his ancestors. 'For,' said Ozma, 'I have forbidden any of my subjects except Glinda the Good and the Wizard of Oz to practice magical arts, because they cannot be trusted to do good and not harm. Therefore Ugu must never again be permitted to
