Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-10-26

the clever ruse Of the
Scarecrow, there remained
for the Rescue Party OF Or only to
find the Tin Woodman So. with the
magic belt of the Nome King to aid
her. Dorothy re-entered the palace,
the doors of which still stood open.
And every one followed her except
the Nome King, the Queen of Ev and
Prince Erving. The Queen had taken
the little Prince into her lap and was
fondling and kissing him lovingly
for he was her youngest born.
But the others went with Dorothy,
and when she came to the middle Of
the first room the girl waved her
hand. as she had seen the King do,
and commanded the Tin Woodman,
whatever form he might then have. to
resume his proper shape. No result
followed this attempt. SO Dorothy
went into another room and repeated
1t. and SO through all the rooms Of
the palace. Yet the Tin Woodman did
not appear to them. nor could they
imagine which among the thou
sands of ornaments was their trans
formed friend.
X !. X
Sadly they returned to the throne
room. where the King. seeing that
they had met with failure. jeered at
Dorothy. saying:
you do not know how to use my
belt, SO 1t is Of no use to you. Give
it back to me and I will let you go
free-you and ali the people who came
with you. AS for the royal family OF
Ev. they are my slaves. and shall re-
main here" -
II shall keep the belt" said Dor
othy.
But how can you escape. without
my CONSENT" asked the King.
Easily enough" answered the girl.
"All we, need to do is to walk out the
way that we came in" &c..
..'Oh. that's all. is it," sneered the
King. "Well. where is the passage
through which you entered this
ROOM
They all looked around, but could
not discover the place, for 1t had long
since been closed. Dorothy. however,
would not be dismayed. She waved
her hand toward the seemingly solid
wall Of the cavern and said:
II command the passage to open"
Instantly the order was obeyed; the
opening appeared ana the passage lay
plainly before them. =.
The King was amazed, and all the
others overjoyed.
why, then. if the belt obeys you,
were we unable to discover the Tin
Woodman?' asked Ozma.
II can't imagine" said Dorothy.
"See here. girl" proposed the King,
eagerly; "give me the belt and I will
tell you what shape the Tin Wood
man was changed into. and then you
can easily Nm him"
Dorothy hes ated. but Billina cried
out:
Don't you do it. If the Nome King
gets the belt again he will make every
ono Of us prisoners. for we will be in
his power. Oily by keeping the belt.
Dorothy. will 20 ever be able to
leave this place in safety"
II think that is true" said the
Scarecrow. But have another idea,
duo to my excellent brains Let Dor
othy transform the King into a goose
egg uless he agrees to go into the
palace and bring out to us the orna-
mont which is our friend Nick Chop
per, the Tin Woodman."
"A goose-egg" echoed the Mortified
King. How dreadful"
well. q goose-egg you will be un-
less you go and fetch us the ornament
We want" declared Billina, with Joy
1ul chuckle.
You can see for yourself that Doro-
thy 10 able to use the magic belt all
right" added the Scarecrow.
The Nome King thought 1t over and
finally consented. for he did not want
to DO goose-egg. So he went into
tho palace to get the ornament which
waS tho transfo rmation of tho Tin
Woodman. and they all awaited his
return with considerable impatience,
Tor they were anxious to leave this
UNDERGROUND cavern and Goa Tho ann .