The morning after the birthday fete, as the Wizard and Dorothy were walkingin the grounds of the palace, Ozma came out and joined them, saying:

"I want to hear more of your adventures in the Forest of Gugu, andhow you were able to get those dear little monkeys to use in Dorothy'sSurprise Cake."

So they sat down on a marble bench near to the Fountain of the Water ofOblivion, and between them Dorothy and the Wizard related their adventures.

"I was dreadfully fussy while I was a woolly lamb," said Dorothy,"for it didn't feel good, a bit. And I wasn't quite sure, you know,that I'd ever get to be a girl again."

"You might have been a woolly lamb yet, if I hadn't happened to havediscovered that Magic Transformation Word," declared the Wizard.

"But what became of the walnut and the hickory-nut into which youtransformed those dreadful beast magicians?" inquired Ozma.

"Why, I'd almost forgotten them," was the reply; "but I believe theyare still here in my pocket."

Then he searched in his pockets and brought out the two nuts andshowed them to her.

Ozma regarded them thoughtfully.

"It isn't right to leave any living creatures in such helplessforms," said she. "I think, Wizard, you ought to transform them intotheir natural shapes again."

"But I don't know what their natural shapes are," he objected, "forof course the forms of mixed animals which they had assumed were notnatural to them. And you must not forget, Ozma, that their natureswere cruel and mischievous, so if I bring them back to life they mightcause us a great deal of trouble."

"Nevertheless," said the Ruler of Oz, "we must free them from theirpresent enchantments. When you restore them to their natural forms wewill discover who they really are, and surely we need not fear any twopeople, even though they prove to be magicians and our enemies."

"I am not so sure of that," protested the Wizard, with a shake ofhis bald head. "The one bit of magic I robbed them of--which was theWord of Transformation--is so simple, yet so powerful, that neitherGlinda nor I can equal it. It isn't all in the word, you know, it'sthe way the word is pronounced. So if the two strange magicians haveother magic of the same sort, they might prove very dangerous to us,if we liberated them."

"I've an idea!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I'm no wizard, and no fairy,but if you do as I say, we needn't fear these people at all."

"What is your thought, my dear?" asked Ozma.

"Well," replied the girl, "here is this Fountain of the Water ofOblivion, and that's what put the notion into my head. When theWizard speaks that ter'ble word that will change 'em back to theirreal forms, he can make 'em dreadful thirsty, too, and we'll put a cupright here by the fountain, so it'll be handy. Then they'll drink thewater and forget all the magic they ever knew--and everything else, too."

"That's not a bad idea," said the Wizard, looking at Dorothy approvingly.

"It's a very GOOD idea," declared Ozma. "Run for a cup, Dorothy."

So Dorothy ran to get a cup, and while she was gone the Wizard said:

"I don't know whether the real forms of these magicians are those ofmen or beasts. If they're beasts, they would not drink from a cup butmight attack us at once and drink afterward. So it might be safer forus to have the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger here to protect usif necessary."

Ozma drew out a silver whistle which was attached to a slender goldchain and blew upon the whistle two shrill blasts. The sound, thoughnot harsh, was very penetrating, and as soon as it reached the ears ofthe Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, the two huge beasts quicklycame bounding toward them. Ozma explained to them what the Wizard wasabout to do, and told them to keep quiet unless danger threatened. Sothe two powerful guardians of the Ruler of Oz crouched beside thefountain and waited.

Dorothy returned and set the cup on the edge of the fountain. Thenthe Wizard placed the hickory-nut beside the fountain and said in asolemn voice:

"I want you to resume your natural form, and to be verythirsty--Pyrzqxgl!"

In an instant there appeared, in the place of the hickory-nut, theform of Kiki Aru, the Hyup boy. He seemed bewildered, at first, as iftrying to remember what had happened to him and why he was in thisstrange place. But he was facing the fountain, and the bubbling waterreminded him that he was thirsty. Without noticing Ozma, the Wizardand Dorothy, who were behind him, he picked up the cup, filled it withthe Water of Oblivion, and drank it to the last drop.

He was now no longer thirsty, but he felt more bewildered than ever, fornow he could remember nothing at all--not even his name or where hecame from. He looked around the beautiful garden with a pleasedexpression, and then, turning, he beheld Ozma and the Wizard andDorothy regarding him curiously and the two great beasts crouchingbehind them.

Kiki Aru did not know who they were, but he thought Ozma very lovelyand Dorothy very pleasant. So he smiled at them--the same innocent,happy smile that a baby might have indulged in, and that pleased Dorothy,who seized his hand and led him to a seat beside her on the bench.

"Why, I thought you were a dreadful magician," she exclaimed,"and you're only a boy!"

"What is a magician?" he asked, "and what is a boy?"

"Don't you know?" inquired the girl.

Kiki shook his head. Then he laughed.

"I do not seem to know anything," he replied.

"It's very curious," remarked the Wizard. "He wears the dress ofthe Munchkins, so he must have lived at one time in the MunchkinCountry. Of course the boy can tell us nothing of his history or hisfamily, for he has forgotten all that he ever knew."

"He seems a nice boy, now that all the wickedness has gone fromhim," said Ozma. "So we will keep him here with us and teach him ourways--to be true and considerate of others."

"Why, in that case, it's lucky for him he drank the Water ofOblivion," said Dorothy.

"It is indeed," agreed the Wizard. "But the remarkable thing, tome, is how such a young boy ever learned the secret of the Magic Wordof Transformation. Perhaps his companion, who is at present thiswalnut, was the real magician, although I seem to remember that it wasthis boy in the beast's form who whispered the Magic Word into thehollow tree, where I overheard it."

"Well, we will soon know who the other is," suggested Ozma. "He mayprove to be another Munchkin boy."

The Wizard placed the walnut near the fountain and said, as slowlyand solemnly as before:

"I want you to resume your natural form, and to be verythirsty--Pyrzqxgl!"

Then the walnut disappeared and Ruggedo the Nome stood in its place.He also was facing the fountain, and he reached for the cup, filledit, and was about to drink when Dorothy exclaimed:

"Why, it's the old Nome King!"

Ruggedo swung around and faced them, the cup still in his hand.

"Yes," he said in an angry voice, "it's the old Nome King, and I'mgoing to conquer all Oz and be revenged on you for kicking me out ofmy throne." He looked around a moment, and then continued: "Thereisn't an egg in sight, and I'm stronger than all of you people puttogether! I don't know how I came here, but I'm going to fight thefight of my life--and I'll win!"

His long white hair and beard waved in the breeze; his eyes flashedhate and vengeance, and so astonished and shocked were they by thesudden appearance of this old enemy of the Oz people that they couldonly stare at him in silence and shrink away from his wild glare.

Ruggedo laughed. He drank the water, threw the cup on the groundand said fiercely:

"And now--and now--and--"

His voice grew gentle. He rubbed his forehead with a puzzled airand stroked his long beard.

"What was I going to say?" he asked, pleadingly.

"Don't you remember?" said the Wizard.

"No; I've forgotten."

"Who ARE you?" asked Dorothy.

He tried to think. "I--I'm sure I don't know," he stammered.

"Don't you know who WE are, either?" questioned the girl.

"I haven't the slightest idea," said the Nome.

"Tell us who this Munchkin boy is," suggested Ozma.

Ruggedo looked at the boy and shook his head.

"He's a stranger to me. You are all strangers. I--I'm a strangerto myself," he said.

Then he patted the Lion's head and murmured, "Good doggie!" and theLion growled indignantly.

"What shall we do with him?" asked the Wizard, perplexed.

"Once before the wicked old Nome came here to conquer us, and then,as now, he drank of the Water of Oblivion and became harmless. But wesent him back to the Nome Kingdom, where he soon learned the old evilways again.

"For that reason," said Ozma, "we must find a place for him in theLand of Oz, and keep him here. For here he can learn no evil and willalways be as innocent of guile as our own people."

And so the wandering ex-King of the Nomes found a new home, apeaceful and happy home, where he was quite content and passed hisdays in innocent enjoyment.