The Wizard had invented another thing. Usually, soap-bubbles are frail and burst easily, lasting only a few moments as they float in the air; but the Wizard added a sort of glue to his soapsuds, which made his bubbles tough; and, as the glue dried rapidly when exposed to the air, the Wizard’s bubbles were strong enough to float for hours without breaking.
He began by blowing—by means of his machinery and air-pumps—several large bubbles which he allowed to float upward into the sky, where the sunshine fell upon them and gave them iridescent hues that were most beautiful. This aroused much wonder and delight because it was a new amusement to everyone present—except perhaps Dorothy and Button-Bright, and even they had never seen such big, strong bubbles before.
The Wizard then blew a bunch of small bubbles and afterward blew a big bubble around them so they were left in the center of it; then he allowed the whole mass of pretty globes to float into the air and disappear in the far distant sky.
“That is really fine!” declared Santa Claus, who loved toys and pretty things. “I think, Mr. Wizard, I shall have you blow a bubble around me; then I can float away home and see the country spread out beneath me as I travel. There isn’t a spot on earth that I haven’t visited, but I usually go in the nighttime, riding behind my swift reindeer. Here is a good chance to observe the country by daylight, while I am riding slowly and at my ease.”
“Do you think you will be able to guide the bubble?” asked the Wizard.
“Oh yes; I know enough magic to do that,” replied Santa Claus. “You blow the bubble, with me inside of it, and I’ll be sure to get home in safety.”
“Please send me home in a bubble, too!” begged the Queen of Merryland.
“Very well, madam; you shall try the journey first,” politely answered old Santa.
The pretty wax doll bade goodbye to the Princess Ozma and the others and stood on the platform while the Wizard blew a big soap-bubble around her. When completed, he allowed the bubble to float slowly upward, and there could be seen the little Queen of Merryland standing in the middle of it and blowing kisses from her fingers to those below. The bubble took a southerly direction, quickly floating out of sight.
“That’s a very nice way to travel,” said Princess Fluff. “I’d like to go home in a bubble, too.”
So the Wizard blew a big bubble around Princess Fluff, and another around King Bud, her brother, and a third one around Queen Zixi; and soon these three bubbles had mounted into the sky and were floating off in a group in the direction of the kingdom of Noland.
The success of these ventures induced the other guests from foreign lands to undertake bubble journeys, also; so the Wizard put them one by one inside his bubbles, and Santa Claus directed the way they should go, because he knew exactly where everybody lived.
Finally, Button-Bright said:
“I want to go home, too.”
“Why, so you shall!” cried Santa; “for I’m sure your father and mother will be glad to see you again. Mr. Wizard, please blow a big, fine bubble for Button-Bright to ride in, and I’ll agree to send him home to his family as safe as safe can be.”
“I’m sorry,” said Dorothy with a sigh, for she was fond of her little comrade; “but p’raps it’s best for Button-Bright to get home; ’cause his folks must be worrying just dreadful.”
She kissed the boy, and Ozma kissed him, too, and all the others waved their hands and said goodbye and wished him a pleasant journey.
“Are you glad to leave us, dear?” asked Dorothy, a little wistfully.
“Don’t know,” said Button-Bright.
He sat down cross-legged on the platform, with his sailor hat tipped back on his head, and the Wizard blew a beautiful bubble all around him.
A minute later it had mounted into the sky, sailing toward the west, and the last they saw of Button-Bright he was still sitting in the middle of the shining globe and waving his sailor hat at those below.
“Will you ride in a bubble, or shall I send you and Toto home by means of the Magic Belt?” the Princess asked Dorothy.
“Guess I’ll use the Belt,” replied the little girl. “I’m sort of ’fraid of those bubbles.”
“Bow-wow!” said Toto, approvingly. He loved to bark at the bubbles as they sailed away, but he didn’t care to ride in one.
Santa Claus decided to go next. He thanked Ozma for her hospitality and wished her many happy returns of the day. Then the Wizard blew a bubble around his chubby little body and smaller bubbles around each of his Ryls and Knooks.
As the kind and generous friend of children mounted into the air the people all cheered at the top of their voices, for they loved Santa Claus dearly; and the little man heard them through the walls of his bubble and waved his hands in return as he smiled down upon them. The band played bravely while everyone watched the bubble until it was completely out of sight.
“How ’bout you, Polly?” Dorothy asked her friend. “Are you ’fraid of bubbles, too?”
“No,” answered Polychrome, smiling; “but Santa Claus promised to speak to my father as he passed through the sky. So perhaps I shall get home an easier way.”
Indeed, the little maid had scarcely made this speech
