Glinda of Oz | Page 4

hall. Ozma took the arm
of her hostess, but Dorothy lagged behind, kissing some of the maids
she knew best, talking with others, and making them all feel that she
was their friend. When at last she joined Glinda and Ozma in the
reception hall, she found them talking earnestly about the condition of
the people, and how to make them more happy and contented --
although they were already the happiest and most contented folks in all

the world.
This interested Ozma, of course, but it didn't interest Dorothy very
much, so the little girl ran over to a big table on which was lying open
Glinda's Great Book of Records.
This Book is one of the greatest treasures in Oz, and the Sorceress
prizes it more highly than any of her magical possessions. That is the
reason it is firmly attached to the big marble table by means of golden
chains, and whenever Glinda leaves home she locks the Great Book
together with five jeweled padlocks, and carries the keys safely hidden
in her bosom.
I do not suppose there is any magical thing in any fairyland to compare
with the Record Book, on the pages of which are constantly being
printed a record of every event that happens in any part of the world, at
exactly the moment it happens. And the records are always truthful,
although sometimes they do not give as many details as one could wish.
But then, lots of things happen, and so the records have to be brief or
even Glinda's Great Book could not hold them all.
Glinda looked at the records several times each day, and Dorothy,
whenever she visited the Sorceress, loved to look in the Book and see
what was happening everywhere. Not much was recorded about the
Land of Oz, which is usually peaceful and uneventful, but today
Dorothy found something which interested her. Indeed, the printed
letters were appearing on the page even while she looked.
"This is funny!" she exclaimed. "Did you know, Ozma, that there were
people in your Land of Oz called Skeezers?"
"Yes," replied Ozma, coming to her side, "I know that on Professor
Wogglebug's Map of the Land of Oz there is a place marked 'Skeezer,'
but what the Skeezers are like I do not know. No one I know has ever
seen them or heard of them. The Skeezer Country is 'way at the upper
edge of the Gillikin Country, with the sandy, impassable desert on one
side and the mountains of Oogaboo on another side. That is a part of
the Land of Oz of which I know very little."

"I guess no one else knows much about it either, unless it's the Skeezers
themselves," remarked Dorothy. "But the Book says: 'The Skeezers of
Oz have declared war on the Flatheads of Oz, and there is likely to be
fighting and much trouble as the result.'"
"Is that all the Book says?" asked Ozma.
"Every word," said Dorothy, and Ozma and Glinda both looked at the
Record and seemed surprised and perplexed.
"Tell me, Glinda," said Ozma, "who are the Flatheads?"
"I cannot, your Majesty," confessed the Sorceress. "Until now I never
have heard of them, nor have I ever heard the Skeezers mentioned. In
the faraway corners of Oz are hidden many curious tribes of people,
and those who never leave their own countries and never are visited by
those from our favored part of Oz, naturally are unknown to me.
However, if you so desire, I can learn through my arts of sorcery
something of the Skeezers and the Flatheads."
"I wish you would," answered Ozma seriously. "You see, Glinda, if
these are Oz people they are my subjects and I cannot allow any wars
or troubles in the Land I rule, if I can possibly help it."
"Very well, your Majesty," said the Sorceress, "I will try to get some
information to guide you. Please excuse me for a time, while I retire to
my Room of Magic and Sorcery."
"May I go with you?" asked Dorothy, eagerly.
"No, Princess," was the reply. "It would spoil the charm to have anyone
present."
So Glinda locked herself in her own Room of Magic and Dorothy and
Ozma waited patiently for her to come out again.
In about an hour Glinda appeared, looking grave and thoughtful.
"Your Majesty," she said to Ozma, "the Skeezers live on a Magic Isle

in a great lake. For that reason -- because the Skeezers deal in magic --
I can learn little about them."
"Why, I didn't know there was a lake in that part of Oz," exclaimed
Ozma. "The map shows a river running through the Skeezer Country,
but no lake."
"That is because the person who made the map never had visited that