  Dorothy exclaimed with delight as they stepped through the garden gate. She had no idea any garden could be so beautiful. Flowers of every known variety grew in profusion. Save for the mossy paths that wound through the garden, there was not a spot of ground that was without blossoming plants. As for the pond, it was like a small sea of lovely blossoming water plants. At the far edge of the pond Dorothy noted three graceful white swans, sleeping in the shade of a large flowering bush that grew at the edge of the pond and trailed its blossoms into the water. The air was sweet with the perfume of thousands and thousands of flowers. "Oh, Wizard," gasped Dorothy, "did you ever see anything so lovely?" "It is indeed a beautiful sight," replied the little man admiringly. Here and there, throughout the garden, a score or more of little wooden men were busily at work. Some were watering plants from blue wooden pails, others were trimming blossoming bushes and hedges, some were digging out weeds, and others were building trellises for climbing vines. None of them took the slightest notice of Dorothy and the Wizard, so absorbed were they in their work. Not far from where Dorothy and the Wizard stood, was a little maid, on her knees, digging with a trowel in the soft earth about a beautiful rambling rose bush that climbed above her on a blue trellis. "Let's ask her where we can find Princess Ozana," suggested Dorothy. A few steps brought them to the side of the maiden who wore a pretty blue apron with a pink petal design. On her hands were gardening gloves and her golden hair fell loosely down her back. "I wonder," began the Wizard, "if you can tell us if the Princess Ozana is in?" The little maid looked up, regarding the strangers with friendly curiosity. Dorothy saw that she was very lovely. Her eyes were as soft as shy woodland violets, and of the same purple hue; her skin as delicately colored as fragile petals, and her lips were like rosebuds. "No," the maid replied with a suspicion of a smile in her voice, "Princess Ozana is not in her cottage at the moment." "Perhaps you know where we can find her," suggested the Wizard. At this the little maid gave a silvery laugh and exclaimed, "You have found her—I am Princess Ozana!" "Of course, Wizard," said Dorothy, "Princess Ozana is the only flesh and blood person on Mount Illuso 'cept for us, so this just must be she. Besides," she added, "no one else could be so beautiful." "Thank you, my dear," said Ozana graciously, as she rose to her feet. "And you, Sir," she continued, turning to the Wizard and sweetly easing the little man's embarrassment, "could scarcely be blamed for failing to recognize a princess garbed so simply and digging in a garden." "I most humbly ask your pardon," murmured the Wizard "I most humbly ask your pardon," murmured the Wizard. "Come," said Ozana, "let us go into my cottage, where we can talk at ease. I must know all about you." As they started for the cottage, a small voice called after them, "Wait! Wait for me! Don't leave me here! It's time for my milk!" Dorothy glanced behind her and saw, scrambling from under a bush, a tiny kitten with pure white fur and china blue eyes. "Oh, what a darling!" she cried. "This is Felina, my pet kitten," announced Ozana as she knelt and gathered the small bundle of fur into her arms. Ozana led her guests to the living room of the cottage, an attractive room, fragrant with pine scent and comfortably furnished with pine chairs, divans and tables. Pressing a button set in the pine-paneled wall, Ozana bid her guests make themselves comfortable while she ordered lunch. A moment later a little wooden maid in a blue dress and spotless white pinafore, followed closely by a small wooden boy in a page's livery, appeared smiling in the doorway. The maid curtsied gracefully and the boy bobbed his head as Ozana said, "This is Dolly and Poppet, my maid and page. Dolly, will you and Poppet please prepare sandwiches and refreshments for us—my guests have traveled far and must be quite hungry." "We are happy to serve your Highness," answered the wooden girl and boy in unison. With another curtsy and bow the maid and page disappeared from the room. Ozana seated herself beside Dorothy and taking the little girl's hand in her own, while she smiled warmly at the Wizard, the Fairy Princess said, "Now, let us become acquainted." "Well," began Dorothy, "this is the famous Wizard of Oz, and I am—" "Princess Dorothy of Oz," Ozana finished for her. "You know us?" asked Dorothy eagerly. "To be sure, I know you," replied Ozana. "By my fairy arts I keep myself informed of all that goes on in the Emerald City. I recall when our Wizard first visited the Land of Oz in his balloon, and when the cyclone lifted your house into the air and carried you, Dorothy, all the way from Kansas to Oz." "Why do you say 'our' Wizard?" asked the Wizard. "Because I consider myself very close to the Land of Oz. I have a great fondness for all its inhabitants and especially for the Wizard who built the Emerald City and united the four countries of Oz," replied Ozana earnestly. The Wizard blushed modestly. "As for building the Emerald City," he remarked, "I have said many times before that I only bossed the job—the Oz people themselves did all the work." Dorothy nodded. "When I first heard your name, Ozana, I suspected it was connected in some way with Oz." "I am called Ozana," stated the violet-eyed maid simply, "because I am a member of Queen Lurline's Fairy Band and first cousin of Princess Ozma of Oz." "Wizard, did you hear that? Princess Ozana is Ozma's cousin!" At this moment Dolly and Poppet reappeared bearing trays heaped with sandwiches and glasses of cool, fresh milk. Dorothy was so excited over the revelation Ozana had just made that she could scarcely eat. While they enjoyed their food, Ozana and her guests exchanged stories. First Dorothy and the Wizard related their adventures. "I have no doubt at all," said Ozana, "that the two strange birds who took your forms were none other than King Umb and Queen Ra, the Mimic Monarchs." "Did you say Mimics?" exclaimed Dorothy. "Yes, my dear, Mount Illuso is the home of the dread Mimics." "Oh," said Dorothy thoughtfully, "that explains a lot of things. Why, only the day before she left the Land of Oz, Ozma and I were discussing the Mimics." The Wizard, who knew nothing of the Mimics, listened with interest as Ozana described the creatures. "I don't understand," said the Wizard when Ozana had finished, "why you should be living alone on the top of this mountain in which such evil creatures as the Mimics dwell." "That question is easily answered," replied Ozana. "Immediately after Queen Lurline enchanted the Mimics so that they could not attack the Oz inhabitants, she flew with me, her fairy companion, to the top of Mount Illuso. Here she left me, giving me certain fairy powers over the Mimics and instructing me that I was to remain here at all times as the Guardian of Oz to prevent the Mimics from doing any harm to the Oz people should the evil creatures ever succeed in lifting Queen Lurline's spell. I was not even permitted to leave the mountain to attend Queen Lurline's fairy councils in the Forest of Burzee." "Then it must have been your fairy light that freed us from the Mimic enchantment in the cavern prison," surmised Dorothy. "Yes, it was," Ozana admitted. "You see, after Queen Lurline departed from Mount Illuso and I was left alone, the first thing I did was to place the button of light in that cavern which the Mimics call their Cavern of the Doomed. I enchanted the light so that it would appear soon after prisoners were placed in the cave. I gave the light power to overcome the spell cast by the Mimics on their victims." "Then you are responsible for the elevator and Hi-Lo, too," said the Wizard. "Yes," replied Ozana. "I placed the elevator in the mountain and stationed Hi-Lo there to operate it. I did all this by my fairy arts. Of course the Mimics have no knowledge of my arrangements to bring about the release of their victims. I knew the escaped prisoners would find their way to me and I could aid them if I judged them worthy. But I never expected to find inhabitants of the Land of Oz in the Mimic Cavern of the Doomed!" "How is it," asked the Wizard, "that the Mimics were able to capture Dorothy and me, despite the fact that we are inhabitants of the Land of Oz?" "You must remember," said Ozana, "that both you and Dorothy came to Oz from the great outside world and neither of you was an inhabitant of Oz when Queen Lurline cast her spell over the Mimics. Hence you were not protected by that spell. It was for just such an unlooked-for development as this that the wise Queen Lurline left me on this mountain top." "May I ask then," said the Wizard, "why you knew nothing of the flight of the Mimic King and Queen to the Emerald City?" Ozana's face flushed slightly at this question, and she replied hesitatingly. "I must admit that I am fully responsible for all your troubles. But I plead with you to consider my side of the story. I have dwelt on this forsaken mountain top with no human companions for more than two hundred years. At first I amused myself by creating the little wooden people and building their pine village for them. But it was too much like playing with dolls, and I soon tired. Then I busied myself with my garden, growing in it every variety of flower that exists. This occupied me for many long years. "Please remember I had taken many precautions against the Mimics. I believed I could rely on my fairy light to free any prisoners in the Cavern of the Doomed, but apparently the Mimics took no captives they thought important enough to occupy the Cavern of the Doomed until they made you prisoners. And then my fairy light served me well. Can you find it in your hearts to forgive me that I did not spend all my time keeping guard over the Mimics through all those long years?" "Of course. We understand, Ozana," said Dorothy, pressing the fairy maid's hand affectionately. "And I must confess," continued Ozana with a grateful smile at Dorothy, "that had I not been so completely absorbed in my garden during the last few days, I would surely have known of Ozma and Glinda's departure from the Emerald City and your own plight." The Wizard had been very thoughtful while Ozana was speaking. Now he asked, "Just what do you believe to be the plans of the two Mimics who are now masquerading as Dorothy and me in the Emerald City?" Ozana was grave at this question. "It is evident," she replied, "that King Umb and Queen Ra hope to take advantage of the absence of Ozma and Glinda to search for the counter-charm that would release the Mimics from Queen Lurline's enchantment and permit them to overrun Oz. "Queen Ra must have discovered by her black arts that Queen Lurline had given the secret of the magical antidote into Ozma's keeping, knowing it would be safest with Ozma. "It may be," added Ozana thoughtfully, "that if King Umb and Queen Ra have not discovered the spell by the time Ozma and Glinda return, they would even be so bold as to remain in the Emerald City, hoping they could deceive Ozma and Glinda as they have the rest of the Oz folks." "What do you think they will do if they find the magic spell?" asked Dorothy fearfully. The violet depths of Ozana's eyes darkened as she considered. "I don't like to think about that, my dear," she answered slowly. After a moment's silence Princess Ozana brightened. "Come, now, let's not borrow trouble. The Mimic Monarchs have had so little time that I am sure they could not have succeeded in their search! We have nothing to fear now. However, I will spend the entire afternoon and evening in study, and by use of my fairy arts I will be able to discover just what King Umb and Queen Ra's plot is. With that knowledge we can act wisely and quickly to defeat the Mimic Monarchs." "Do you think we should wait that long?" asked the Wizard. "It is necessary," replied Ozana firmly. "I must have time to study Ra and Umb's actions during the past few days and to prepare myself to fight them. Remember, they are powerful enemies. Unless I am mistaken we shall be on our way to the Emerald City in the morning, and I shall be fully armed with whatever knowledge is necessary to defeat the Mimic Monarchs completely. Do not worry, my friends. I am confident I can bring about the downfall of King Umb and Queen Ra before Ozma and Glinda return to the Emerald City tomorrow." "Of course you are right," assented the Wizard slowly. "Now," said Ozana rising, "let me show you my garden of which I am quite proud. I am sure you will find it so interesting that you will regret you have only one short afternoon to spend in it. I have passed countless days in it and found it ever more fascinating." The White Kitten, Felina, had finished lapping up the milk from the bowl placed on the floor for her by the little wooden maid. Dorothy knelt, cuddling the tiny creature in her arms. "May I take Felina in the garden with us?" Dorothy asked. "To be sure," replied Ozana. "I shall be far too occupied this afternoon to give her my attention." As they stepped from Ozana's cottage into the garden, the Fairy Princess said, "I believe you will find my garden different from any you have ever seen. I call it my Story Blossom Garden." |
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