e you wound up to keep my secret?" asked the Wheeler, anxiously.

"Yes; if you be-have your-self. But tell me: who rules the Land of Ev
now?" asked the machine.

"There is no ruler," was the answer, "because every member of the royal
family is imprisoned by the Nome King. But the Princess Langwidere,
who is a niece of our late King Evoldo, lives in a part of the royal
palace and takes as much money out of the royal treasury as she can
spend. The Princess Langwidere is not exactly a ruler, you see,
because she doesn't rule; but she is the nearest approach to a ruler we
have at present."

"I do not re-mem-ber her," said Tiktok. "What does she look like?"

"That I cannot say," replied the Wheeler, "although I have seen her
twenty times. For the Princess Langwidere is a different person every
time I see her, and the only way her subjects can recognize her at all
is by means of a beautiful ruby key which she always wears on a chain
attached to her left wrist. When we see the key we know we are
beholding the Princess."

"That is strange," said Dorothy, in astonishment. "Do you mean to say
that so many different princesses are one and the same person?"

"Not exactly," answered the Wheeler. "There is, of course, but one
princess; but she appears to us in many forms, which are all more or
less beautiful."

"She must be a witch," exclaimed the girl.

"I do not think so," declared the Wheeler. "But there is some mystery
connected with her, nevertheless. She is a very vain creature, and
lives mostly in a room surrounded by mirrors, so that she can admire
herself whichever way she looks."

No one answered this speech, because they had just passed out of the
forest and their attention was fixed upon the scene before them--a
beautiful vale in which were many fruit trees and green fields, with
pretty farm-houses scattered here and there and broad, smooth roads
that led in every direction.

In the center of this lovely vale, about a mile from where our friends
were standing, rose the tall spires of the royal palace, which
glittered brightly against their background of blue sky. The palace
was surrounded by charming grounds, full of flowers and shrubbery.
Several tinkling fountains could be seen, and there were pleasant walks
bordered by rows of white marble statuary.

All these details Dorothy was, of course, unable to notice or admire
until they had advanced along the road to a position quite near to the
palace