Jack Snow

“ Without your magic you are powerless to defend yourselves. I now have at my command all of your magic as well as my own. So, I rather think you will be glad enough to do as I say."
"And just what is that?" asked the Wizard.
"From now on," said Conjo, "I am the Wizard of Oz, and you," Conjo pointed to the Wizard, "are my assistant!"
Dorothy gasped at the audacity of the little man, while the Shaggy Man laughed aloud. The Wizard could only whisper unbelievingly: "You want to be me?" ”

“ I now know how we can save not only Twink and the Shaggy Man, but all the other people enslaved by King Ticket and Queen Curtain!"
"You do?" said Tom wonderingly.
"Yes," responded Twiffle. "You were wrong about only one thing—King Ticket, Queen Curtain, and the Lords and Ladies are not heartless. They have hearts, all right. But you were very right when you said they don't know what real romance or love is. They don't. We're going to show them, and in the process we will rescue Twink and Shaggy!"
Twiffle excitedly unfolded his plan. As Tom listened he grew more and more cheerful. ”

“ Twiffle asked: "Just how far are we from this Deadly Desert?"
"Quite a distance," replied the beaver King. "The Desert lies just beyond our own Kingdom which is in the hills and mountains you see in the distance."
"And what is your plan for crossing it?" asked the Shaggy Man.
"Come to my palace where you will be comfortable," said the King, "and we will discuss my plan."
"It must be a long walk," sighed Twink. "And the farther we go toward the Desert, the rockier and grayer the country becomes."
"Oh, we shan't walk. It will be much quicker to ride," declared the beaver King. ”

“ When the west wind is coming, we enjoy the blossoms and scent of wild roses."
"Doesn't the west wind bring rain clouds?" asked Tom, remembering that it usually did in Buffalo.
"Yes," said the Mayor, "that is right."
"Then it rains here in Hightown where you have a perfect climate?" asked the boy, remembering his disgust with the rain at home.
"Not at all," replied the Mayor. "There is no gravity to pull the raindrops earthward, so it can't rain. We just go out wading in the rain cloud."
"That's quite a plant," said the Shaggy Man, staring at the flower pot with its beautiful blossoms. ”

“ Here Twiffle stepped forward. "Your Highness," the little clown began, "if I may make a suggestion. I have known Conjo longer than anyone else here. He is not really a bad man. His threats are worse than his deeds. Most of the time he is quite jovial and pleasant. He loves his magic and his wizardry and wants to show off. Now that he has a chance to begin all over again, if he learned everything again except vanity and if he had the right guide, I believe it is possible that he might become a good wizard."
"And you want to be that guide," said Ozma smiling kindly at Twiffle. ”

“ We found our only pleasure in artificial romance as we saw it on the stage. We had no love for each other—no romance among ourselves.
"Now all that is changed. Not only do we now appreciate and know the true meaning of real love—but the people whom we enslaved are freed and happy once more.
"We have one person to thank for this—Tom, who, with the Love Magnet, brought us our present joy and happiness. Queen Curtain and I propose that we yield our thrones and that Tom become the new King of the Valley of Romance." ”

“ The Shaggy Man and the two children followed Conjo, while Twiffle remained behind, busily arranging and straightening the royal cushions and comforters of the regal divan.
In the great corridor, Conjo paused before a small door that opened at his touch, revealing a cage-like little room.
"Step in," the Wizard invited his guests. "This is an elevator that will whisk us to the roof of the tallest tower of the castle—an improvement over the stairway, up which I find it difficult to whisk myself in my present state of, shall we say—stoutness? Ho, ho, ho, ho, he, he, he!" ”

“ The Shaggy Man said sadly, "Well, this seems to be the Barrier of Invisibility, and it's most effective too. I propose we all stay just where we are until we decide what to do for we all seem to be quite invisible."
"Must we turn back?" asked Twink anxiously.
"Don't you worry, Twink," said Tom, "even if we can't get to the Land of Oz, we'll find our way home."
"Yes, I think we must turn back," announced the beaver King. "Let us retreat in the tunnel to the point where the Barrier of Invisibility begins. ”

“ We have the glorious stage for our lives." The King looked about him at the work going on.
"Who are your actors?" asked Tom.
For a moment King Ticket seemed embarrassed. Then he replied vaguely with a wave of his hand as if to dismiss the matter as of little importance: "Oh, just actors—you know, the usual thing, leading man, leading lady, villain, comedian, and so forth."
"Come," said the Shaggy Man, "we're wasting time here. We should be on our way if we ever hope to reach the Land of Oz."
Queen Curtain looked up. "You won't stay for dinner and the theater?" ”

“ The Shaggy Man lay down on the bed and tried to sleep. After a long time he drifted into a fitful slumber broken by dreams in which Conjo sailed through the air, clutching the Love Magnet, and Twink and Tom were transformed into dolls, no larger than Twiffle. In his dream the Shaggy Man seemed to be bound with ropes to his bed, powerless to stop any of Conjo's mischief, while Twiffle tugged at his bonds saying, "Wake up, Shaggy Man, wake up!" ”

“ The Lord High Mayor eyed Shaggy narrowly. "Well," he said, "if you insist on leaving Hightown, you could walk to the boundary there, where gravity begins again, step over and fall very quickly to the earth. That is the fastest way I can think of leaving Hightown, but I wouldn't recommend it."
"No, no," the Shaggy Man assured him. "We have no desire to fall to the earth." Shaggy looked below him with a shudder. "We would be in no shape to continue our travels if we did that." ”

“ Oh, dear, this is confusing," said Lady Cue.
"Have you no idea where our rooms are, Madame?" asked Twiffle.
"I wouldn't say that," replied Lady Cue. "I did have a very good idea, but it seems I mislaid it somewhere. There are so very many rooms you know—and any one of them might be yours, if only there weren't so many other people in the castle. That's what we must be careful about, you know. You will want your very own rooms, won't you? I don't think you would want to share rooms with someone else, would you, maybe?" ”

“ This was Ozma's library, where the shelves that rose from the floor to the ceiling were filled with Magic Books of Records. The little ruler of Oz was seated at a table, deep in the study of one of the books. She looked up questioningly as Omby Amby stood before her. Jellia Jamb silently departed, closing the door behind her.
"Your Highness," began Omby Amby, "it is my painful duty to report a most regrettable misfortune."
"What is it, Omby Amby," asked Ozma with a kindly smile. "What has happened?"
"It's the Love Magnet, your Highness," gulped the Soldier. "It's been broken!" ”

“ At this very moment, Tom advanced to the front center of the stage and with all eyes upon him, flashed the Love Magnet before the audience.
A vast sigh went through the theater. And then there was a confused babel as the Lords and Ladies crowded into the aisle, each of them bent upon reaching the stage and embracing Tom, who, they realized suddenly, was quite the most lovable person they had ever beheld.
King Ticket leaped from the Royal Box onto the stage, hurrying toward Tom. "My dear boy," he exclaimed, "how could I have been so blind? Isn't there something I can do for you? ”

“ The Wizard led the way to Ozma's Grand Throne Room, on one side of which was the door that led to the tower and Magic Workroom. The young beavers and their King hurried along after the Wizard and Shaggy and the rest.
"Perhaps Conjo would listen to you," the Wizard suggested to Twiffle, "if you asked him to come out and talk with us."
Twiffle walked to the tower door, knocked as loudly as he could on it, and said: "Come out, Conjo. It is foolish of you to hide away in there. These people want to talk with you and try to be your friends." ”

“ You can walk down through the air—or rather, swim down—using your arms to push you through the air. There's no gravity, you know." And with a flirt of its saucy tail the bird was gone.
With a shout, Twiffle leaped to his feet. "What fools we've been! Of course there's no gravity, and we can push ourselves right down to earth! Come on, let's be on our way."
Twiffle ran to the edge of the porch and leaped off head first. They could see the little clown below them, moving his arms like a swimmer.
"Should we try it?" asked the Shaggy Man doubtfully.
Tom didn't wait for an answer. ”

“ They have no more life than mere dummies, until the curtain goes up and they walk on the stage to play their parts in that absurd drama."
Twiffle approached the Shaggy Man and studied him intently. At last he sighed and shook his head. "I am afraid there is nothing we can do just now," he admitted. "I learned a little magic from Conjo, and I hoped that I might be able to release the Shaggy Man, but the spell that is upon him is a strange one. I have no power to break it."
"There must surely be something we can do," said Tom, thinking of Queen Curtain's threatening speech to Twink. ”

“ The little clown suddenly doubled up with merriment and then gasped: "If you could only see yourselves! You're all eyes—positively bug-eyed if I ever saw anyone who was!"
"But what are you doing in the television picture?" asked Twink, regaining a little of her composure.
The clown disregarded her question and was suddenly serious. "Come on," he ordered. "Conjo can hold this picture only a few minutes and you just have time to walk through."
"Walk through?" echoed Tom. "What do you mean?"
"Start walking toward the television screen and you'll find out," answered the clown. ”

“ That is a full life for us and quite enough—to sit in the theater and watch great drama unfold. What need have we for any lives of our own, when the stage is a world in itself and therein we are content to dwell." The King's voice gently subsided to a whisper, and his eyes stared dreamily into space.
Queen Curtain took up the story. "During the performances Lord Props and Lady Cue help the actors, although none too well, I must admit. Lord Props seldom gets things right: when a gun shot is called for there is very likely to be a bell ringing. ”

“ It now reflected a gently rolling meadowland with a great castle in the distance. Approaching the castle were a young girl and a boy, accompanied by the figure of a little wooden clown.
Ozma gasped in surprise. "Those are human children, Shaggy Man! What can they be doing there when my Magic Record Books state that Conjo is the only human being on the island? We can see that the clown accompanying them is a puppet, evidently brought to life by Conjo." ”

“ I have heard of powerful birds managing to fly high enough to cross the Deadly Desert, but I know of no magic that can penetrate the barrier of invisibility that Glinda the Good spread across the deadly waste many years ago—certainly not Conjo's magic! ”

“ In fact a flying machine in Hightown is an utter absurdity—against all the town ordinances and rules. I must ask you to remove it immediately."
"Not very friendly, is he?" remarked Tom.
But Twiffle was interested. "What do you mean, sir, that our aircraft is against your laws?"
The tall man sniffed. "It should be apparent to you that the last thing in the sky we need is an airplane. Here, in this favored spot, we walk on air and are not compelled to crawl across the earth like worms."
"Yes," said the Shaggy Man, "we can see all that. ”

“ He appeared to be their leader, since he was taller than his companions and his eyes glowed much more fiercely than the rest.
"Who are you?" asked the beaver King calmly.
"We are Dwellers of the Desert. We live on the shifting sands on the surface. Occasionally we visit the oasis just above, where there is no sand, but blue grass that glows with blue flame," the flame being answered.
"An oasis on the Deadly Desert?" asked the Shaggy Man incredulously. ”

“ But the bird didn't move from Shaggy's shoulder.
"Where are you going—anywhere in particular?" asked Twink.
"Oh yes, of course," the wren replied. "Just below Hightown there is a lovely orchard of all kinds of fruit trees. That's where the Hightowners get all their food. They live on fruit. They can boast about their silly town all they like, but when they want food you can bet they hurry down to the orchard on earth for it. That's why they don't like us birds. We enjoy eating the fruit in the orchard, too. We seldom go near Hightown, except when the people are asleep. ”