o use my belt, so it is of no use to you. Give
it back to me and I will let you go free--you and all the people who
came with you. As for the royal family of Ev, they are my slaves, and
shall remain here."

"I shall keep the belt," said Dorothy.

"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."

"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 it 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:

"I command the passage to open!"

Instantly the order was obeyed; the opening appeared and 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.

"I 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 Woodman was changed into, and then you
can easily find him."

Dorothy hesitated, but Billina cried out:

"Don't you do it! If the Nome King gets the belt again he will make
every one of us prisoners, for we will be in his power. Only by
keeping the belt, Dorothy, will you ever be able to leave this place in
safety."

"I think that is true," said the Scarecrow. "But I have another idea,
due to my excellent brains. Let Dorothy transform the King into a
goose-egg unless he agrees to go into the palace and bring out to us
the ornament which is our friend Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman."

"A goose-egg!" echoed the horrified King. "How dreadful!"

"Well, a goose-egg you will be unless you go and fetch us the ornament
we want," declared Billina, with a joyful chuckle.

"You can see for yourself that Dorothy is able to use the magic belt
all right," added the Scarecrow.

The Nome King thought it over and finally consented, for he did not
want to be a goose-egg. So he went into the palace to get the ornament
which was the transformation of the Tin Woodman, and they all awaited
his return with considerable impatience, for they were anxious to leave
this underground cavern and see the sunshine once more. But when the
Nome King came back he brought nothing with him except a puzzl