"Really," said Dorothy, looking solemn, "this is very s'prising. Wecan't even find a shadow of Ozma anywhere in the Em'rald City, andwherever she's gone, she's taken her Magic Picture with her." She wasstanding in the courtyard of the palace with Betsy and Trot, whileScraps, the Patchwork Girl, danced around the group, her hair flyingin the wind.

"P'raps," said Scraps, still dancing, "someone has stolen Ozma."

"Oh, they'd never dare do that!" exclaimed tiny Trot.

"And stolen the Magic Picture, too, so the thing can't tell where sheis," added the Patchwork Girl.

"That's nonsense," said Dorothy. "Why, ev'ryone loves Ozma. Thereisn't a person in the Land of Oz who would steal a single thing sheowns."

"Huh!" replied the Patchwork Girl. "You don't know ev'ry person inthe Land of Oz."

"Why don't I?"

"It's a big country," said Scraps. "There are cracks and corners init that even Ozma doesn't know of."

"The Patchwork Girl's just daffy," declared Betsy.

"No, she's right about that," replied Dorothy thoughtfully. "Thereare lots of queer people in this fairyland who never come near Ozma orthe Em'rald City. I've seen some of 'em myself, girls. But I haven'tseen all, of course, and there MIGHT be some wicked persons left in Ozyet, though I think the wicked witches have all been destroyed."

Just then the Wooden Sawhorse dashed into the courtyard with theWizard of Oz on his back. "Have you found Ozma?"cried the Wizardwhen the Sawhorse stopped beside them.

"Not yet," said Dorothy. "Doesn't Glinda the Good know where she is?"

"No. Glinda's Book of Records and all her magic instruments are gone.Someone must have stolen them."

"Goodness me!"exclaimed Dorothy in alarm. "This is the biggest stealI ever heard of. Who do you think did it, Wizard?"

"I've no idea," he answered.

"But I have come to get my own bag ofmagic tools and carry them to Glinda. She is so much more powerfulthan I that she may be able to discover the truth by means of my magicquicker and better than I could myself."

"Hurry, then," said Dorothy, "for we've all gotten terr'bly worried."

The Wizard rushed away to his rooms but presently came back with along, sad face. "It's gone!" he said.

"What's gone?" asked Scraps.

"My black bag of magic tools. Someone must have stolen it!"

They looked at one another in amazement.

"This thing is getting desperate," continued the Wizard. "All the magic that belongs to Ozma or to Glinda or to me has been stolen."

"Do you suppose Ozma could have taken them, herself, for somepurpose?" asked Betsy.

"No indeed," declared the Wizard. "I suspect some enemy has stolenOzma and for fear we would follow and recapture her has taken all ourmagic away from us."

"How dreadful!" cried Dorothy. "The idea of anyone wanting to injureour dear Ozma! Can't we do ANYthing to find her, Wizard?"

"I'll ask Glinda. I must go straight back to her and tell her that mymagic tools have also disappeared. The good Sorceress will be greatlyshocked, I know."

With this, he jumped upon the back of the Sawhorse again, and thequaint steed, which never tired, dashed away at full speed. The threegirls were very much disturbed in mind. Even the Patchwork Girlseemed to realize that a great calamity had overtaken them all. Ozmawas a fairy of considerable power, and all the creatures in Oz as wellas the three mortal girls from the outside world looked upon her astheir protector and friend. The idea of their beautiful girl Ruler'sbeing overpowered by an enemy and dragged from her splendid palace acaptive was too astonishing for them to comprehend at first. Yet whatother explanation of the mystery could there be?

"Ozma wouldn't go away willingly, without letting us know about it,"asserted Dorothy, "and she wouldn't steal Glinda's Great Book ofRecords or the Wizard's magic, 'cause she could get them any time justby asking for 'em. I'm sure some wicked person has done all this."

"Someone in the Land of Oz?" asked Trot.

"Of course.

No one could get across the Deadly Desert, you know, andno one but an Oz person could know about the Magic Picture and theBook of Records and the Wizard's magic or where they were kept, and sobe able to steal the whole outfit before we could stop 'em. It MUSTbe someone who lives in the Land of Oz."

"But who--who--who?" asked Scraps. "That's the question. Who?"

"If we knew," replied Dorothy severely, "we wouldn't be standing here doing nothing."

Just then two boys entered the courtyard and approached the group ofgirls. One boy was dressed in the fantastic Munchkin costume--a bluejacket and knickerbockers, blue leather shoes and a blue hat with ahigh peak and tiny silver bells dangling from its rim--and this wasOjo the Lucky, who had once come from the Munchkin Country of Oz andnow lived in the Emerald City. The other boy was an American fromPhiladelphia and had lately found his way to Oz in the company of Trotand Cap'n Bill. His name was Button-Bright; that is, everyone calledhim by that name and knew no other. Button-Bright was not quite asbig as the Munchkin boy, but he wore the same kind of clothes, onlythey were of different colors. As the two came up to the girls, armin arm, Button-Bright remarked, "Hello, Dorothy. They say Ozma islost."

"WHO says so?" she asked.

."Ev'rybody's talking about it in the City," he replied.

"I wonder how the people found it out," Dorothy asked.

"I know," said Ojo. "Jellia Jamb told them. She has been askingeverywhere if anyone has seen Ozma."

"That's too bad," observed Dorothy, frowning.

"Why?" asked Button-Bright.

"There wasn't any use making all our people unhappy till we were deadcertain that Ozma can't be found."

"Pshaw," said Button-Bright, "it's nothing to get lost. I've beenlost lots of times."

"That's true," admitted Trot, who knew that the boy had a habit ofgetting lost and then finding himself again, "but it's diff'rent withOzma. She's the Ruler of all this big fairyland, and we're 'fraidthat the reason she's lost is because somebody has stolen her away."

"Only wicked people steal," said Ojo. "Do you know of any wickedpeople in Oz, Dorothy?"

"No," she replied.

"They're here, though," cried Scraps, dancing up to them and thencircling around the group. "Ozma's stolen; someone in Oz stole her;only wicked people steal; so someone in Oz is wicked!"

There was no denying the truth of this statement. The faces of all ofthem were now solemn and sorrowful. "One thing is sure," saidButton-Bright after a time, "if Ozma has been stolen, someone ought tofind her and punish the thief."

"There may be a lot of thieves," suggested Trot gravely, "and in thisfairy country they don't seem to have any soldiers or policemen."

"There is one soldier," claimed Dorothy.

"He has green whiskers and a gun and is a Major-General, but no one is afraid of either his gun or his whiskers, 'cause he's so tender-hearted that he wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Well, a soldier is a soldier," said Betsy, "and perhaps he'd hurt awicked thief if he wouldn't hurt a fly. Where is he?"

"He went fishing about two months ago and hasn't come back yet,"explained Button-Bright.

"Then I can't see that he will be of much use to us in this trouble,"sighed little Trot. "But p'raps Ozma, who is a fairy, can get awayfrom the thieves without any help from anyone."

"She MIGHT be able to," answered Dorothy reflectively, "but if she hadthe power to do that, it isn't likely she'd have let herself bestolen. So the thieves must have been even more powerful in magicthan our Ozma."

There was no denying this argument, and although they talked thematter over all the rest of that day, they were unable to decide howOzma had been stolen against her will or who had committed thedreadful deed. Toward evening the Wizard came back, riding slowlyupon the Sawhorse because he felt discouraged and perplexed. Glindacame later in her aerial chariot drawn by twenty milk-white swans, andshe also seemed worried and unhappy. More of Ozma's friends joinedthem, and that evening they all had a big talk together. "I think,"said Dorothy, "we ought to start out right away in search of our dearOzma. It seems cruel for us to live comf'tably in her palace whileshe is a pris'ner in the power of some wicked enemy."

"Yes," agreed Glinda the Sorceress, "someone ought to search for her.I cannot go myself, because I must work hard in order to create somenew instruments of sorcery by means of which I may rescue our fairRuler. But if you can find her in the meantime and let me know whohas stolen her, it will enable me to rescue her much more quickly."

"Then we'll start tomorrow morning," decided Dorothy. "Betsy and Trotand I won't waste another minute."

"I'm not sure you girls will make good detectives," remarked theWizard, "but I'll go with you to protect you from harm and to give youmy advice. All my wizardry, alas, is stolen, so I am now really nomore a wizard than any of you, but I will try to protect you from anyenemies you may meet."

"What harm could happen to us in Oz?" inquired Trot.

"What harm happened to Ozma?" returned the Wizard.

"If there is an Evil Power abroad in our fairyland, which is able to steal not only Ozma and her Magic Picture, but Glinda's Book of Records and all her magic, and my black bag containing all my tricks of wizardry, then that Evil Power may yet cause us considerable injury. Ozma is a fairy, and so is Glinda, so no power can kill or destroy them, but you girls are all mortals and so are Button-Bright and I, so we must watch out for ourselves."

"Nothing can kill me," said Ojo the Munchkin boy.

"That is true," replied the Sorceress, "and I think it may be well todivide the searchers into several parties, that they may cover all theland of Oz more quickly. So I will send Ojo and Unc Nunkie and Dr.Pipt into the Munchkin Country, which they are well acquainted with;and I will send the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman into the QuadlingCountry, for they are fearless and brave and never tire; and to theGillikin Country, where many dangers lurk, I will send the Shaggy Manand his brother, with Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead. Dorothy may makeup her own party and travel into the Winkie Country. All of you mustinquire everywhere for Ozma and try to discover where she is hidden."

They thought this a very wise plan and adopted it without question.In Ozma's absence, Glinda the Good was the most important person inOz, and all were glad to serve under her direction.