hen he folded the paper and put it in his
pocket, and replaced the board in the floor so that no one would
suspect it had been removed.

After this Kiki went into the garden and sitting beneath a tree made a
careful study of the paper. He had always wanted to get away from
Mount Munch and visit the big world--especially the Land of Oz--and the
idea now came to him that if he could transform himself into a bird, he
could fly to any place he wished to go and fly back again whenever he
cared to. It was necessary, however, to learn by heart the way to
pronounce the magic word, because a bird would have no way to carry a
paper with it, and Kiki would be unable to resume his proper shape if
he forgot the word or its pronunciation.

So he studied it a long time, repeating it a hundred times in his mind
until he was sure he would not forget it. But to make safety doubly
sure he placed the paper in a tin box in a neglected part of the garden
and covered the box with small stones.

By this time it was getting late in the day and Kiki wished to attempt
his first transformation before his parents returned from the festival.
So he stood on the front porch of his home and said:

"I want to become a big, strong bird, like a hawk--Pyrzqxgl!" He
pronounced it the right way, so in a flash he felt that he was
completely changed in form. He flapped his wings, hopped to the porch
railing and said: "Caw-oo! Caw-oo!"

Then he laughed and said half aloud: "I suppose that's the funny sound
this sort of a bird makes. But now let me try my wings and see if I'm
strong enough to fly across the desert."

For he had decided to make his first trip to the country outside the
Land of Oz. He had stolen this secret of transformation and he knew he
had disobeyed the law of Oz by working magic. Perhaps Glinda or the
Wizard of Oz would discover him and punish him, so it would be good
policy to keep away from Oz altogether.

Slowly Kiki rose into the air, and resting on his broad wings, floated
in graceful circles above the saucer-shaped mountain-top. From his
height, he could see, far across the burning sands of the Deadly
Desert, another country that might be pleasant to explore, so he headed
that way, and with strong, steady strokes of his wings, began the long
flight.

2. The Hawk

Even a hawk has to fly high in order to cross the Deadly Desert, from
which poisonous fumes are constantly rising. Kiki Aru felt sick and
faint b