Magical Mimics in Oz

<p><SPAN name="CHAPTER_19" id="CHAPTER_19"></SPAN></p> <div class="image-center"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus93.jpg" width-obs="517" height-obs="350" alt=""/></div> <h2>CHAPTER 19<br/> <small>Ozana's Fairy Arts</small></h2> <p>Swiftly Princess Ozana&mdash;for the maiden was she&mdash;advanced to the center of the throne room. She was followed closely by the Wizard and Dorothy, who bore in her arms the sleeping form of a tiny, white kitten.</p> <p>At the appearance of Dorothy, Toto stopped worrying the ankles of King Umb and Queen Ra and ran to meet the little girl. So happy was the excited little dog to see his beloved mistress that he even ignored the presence of the sleeping kitten. Dorothy knelt and caressed him.</p> <hr class="chap" /> <div class="image-center"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus94.jpg" width-obs="612" height-obs="350" alt=""/></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p>Meanwhile, Queen Ra, recognizing Ozana, paled and gasped: "The Guardian of Oz!"</p> <p>"Yes," admitted Ozana calmly, "it is I, Princess Ozana."</p> <p>King Umb was so terrified at the appearance of the little maiden that the big fellow's knees knocked together and his face turned a sickly, green hue.</p> <p>But it cannot be said that Queen Ra lacked courage. After the first shock of Ozana's appearance, the Queen summoned her spirits and faced the fairy maid defiantly. Ra had determined not to give up her triumph without a struggle.</p> <p>Clasping her palms to Dorothy's Magic Belt, the Mimic Queen whispered a command to it. But nothing happened.</p> <p>Ozana divined what the Queen was about, but she only smiled.</p> <p>In a rage, Queen Ra tore the useless belt from her waist and flung it to the throne room floor.</p> <hr class="chap" /> <div class="image-center"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus95.jpg" width-obs="159" height-obs="350" alt=""/></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p>"You should know better," Ozana gently chided the infuriated Queen, "than to attempt to work such simple magic on me. Even if you had succeeded in transforming me into a wooden doll, I would still have retained my fairy powers and been able to defeat you."</p> <p>Fright and realization that she was defeated mingled in Queen Ra's eyes as she stared at Ozana. The unhappy Queen said not a word. She sat spellbound, gazing with fearful fascination at the serene features of her girlish opponent.</p> <p>Ozana was speaking with an air of calm justice. "Because I appeared absorbed in my own occupations," she addressed Queen Ra, "you counted me harmless. You believed I would be unaware of your evil-doing. You thought you could attack Oz without my knowing it. But you were wrong. And now the time has come for me to fulfill the trust placed in me by Queen Lurline when she made me Guardian of Oz. At that time she imparted to me the same powers over the race of Mimics that only she, of all fairies, possesses. I shall use those powers as Queen Lurline would wish me to. I shall place her enchantment once more on the Mimics so that they will be powerless to steal the shapes of all who dwell in the Land of Oz. At the same time, the re-weaving of this fairy enchantment will release all those Oz people whose shapes are now held by the Mimics."</p> <p>As Ozana completed this speech, she described a large circle in the air before her with her fairy wand. Immediately that space was filled with a silvery, cloud-like radiance that glowed and shimmered. Then, while Ozma and the rest watched, a scene appeared in the cloud of silver mist. Dorothy and the Wizard recognized it as the interior of the Mimic cavern inside hollow Mount Illuso. Far in the top of the cavern they saw a scarlet spider web, in the center of which squatted a huge crimson spider. While those in the throne room watched with fascinated interest, the spider, seeming to sense that it was being observed, scuttled with a sudden, crab-like motion to the outer edge of the web. There it squatted, its eyes glowing like dull, red coals.</p> <p>With the tip of her wand, Ozana touched the head of the image of the spider. Instantly, the creature leaped into the air and trembled convulsively, as though it had received an electric shock. Then it began slowly to dissolve before their eyes. First its legs wilted, grew shapeless and melted away. Next its body collapsed inwardly, like an over-ripe melon, finally shriveling and disappearing altogether.</p> <hr class="chap" /> <div class="image-center"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus96.jpg" width-obs="240" height-obs="350" alt=""/> <div class="caption"> <p><span class="smcap">With the tip of her wand, Ozana touched the image of the spider</span></p> </div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p>Now the spellbound spectators in the throne room saw a spot of silver light appear on the outermost strand of the crimson web. The light raced over every coil of the immense web, progressing swiftly to the web's center. As fast as the silver light flashed along the scarlet coils, they vanished. In a few seconds more not a trace remained of the vast web or its loathsome occupant. The point of cleansing silver light winked out; the image of the Mimic cavern faded; and the silver mist vanished from the throne room.</p> <p>At this same instant, shouts of joy and exchanges of affectionate greetings rang through the Royal Palace and were echoed throughout the Emerald City. The sound of these happy voices told Princess Ozma that her beloved subjects were no longer under the spell of the Mimics. In the throne room itself, the Mimic-Oz people, who had bound the Scarecrow and his companions and brought them before King Umb and Queen Ra, vanished. In their places stood Mimics in their variety of repulsive animal and bird shapes. While the startled Oz people watched, the Mimics flitted and shifted about the Royal Throne Room, changing their forms in the manner peculiar to these creatures.</p> <p>But for the moment the Mimics were forgotten, as all eyes were fastened with admiration and gratitude on Princess Ozana.</p> <p>Ozana smiled happily. "Queen Ra," she said, "you are now quite powerless to harm the people of Oz."</p> <p>Queen Ra, who had watched Ozana's fairy magic with fascinated interest, knew she was utterly defeated. All her old arrogance and overbearing manner vanished. With bowed head, she refrained from meeting the eyes of Ozana or those of any of her former victims.</p> <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />