ass cats can't
swim."

"No, but I'm not afraid of water," was the reply. "I just walked
across the river on the bottom."

"Under the water?" exclaimed Trot.

The cat gave her a scornful look.

"How could I walk OVER the water on the BOTTOM of the river? If you
were transparent, anyone could see YOUR brains were not working. But
I'm sure you could never find the place alone. It has always been
hidden from the Oz people."

"But you, with your fine pink brains, could find it again, I s'pose,"
remarked Dorothy.

"Yes; and if you want that Magic Flower for Ozma, I'll go with you and
show you the way."

"That's lovely of you!" declared Dorothy. "Trot and Cap'n Bill will go
with you, for this is to be their birthday present to Ozma. While
you're gone I'll have to find something else to give her."

"All right. Come on, then, Cap'n," said the Glass Cat, starting to
move away.

"Wait a minute," begged Trot. "How long will we be gone?"

"Oh, about a week."

"Then I'll put some things in a basket to take with us," said the girl,
and ran into the palace to make her preparations for the journey.

6. Ozma's Birthday Presents

When Cap'n Bill and Trot and the Glass Cat had started for the hidden
island in the far-off river to get the Magic Flower, Dorothy wondered
again what she could give Ozma on her birthday. She met the Patchwork
Girl and said:

"What are you going to give Ozma for a birthday present?"

"I've written a song for her," answered the strange Patchwork Girl, who
went by the name of "Scraps," and who, through stuffed with cotton, had
a fair assortment of mixed brains. "It's a splendid song and the
chorus runs this way:

I am crazy;
You're a daisy,
Ozma dear;
I'm demented;
You're contented,
Ozma dear;
I am patched and gay and glary;
You're a sweet and lovely fairy;
May your birthdays all be happy,
Ozma dear!"

"How do you like it, Dorothy?" inquired the Patchwork Girl.

"Is it good poetry, Scraps?" asked Dorothy, doubtfully.

"It's as good as any ordinary song," was the reply. "I have given it a
dandy title, too. I shall call the song: 'When Ozma Has a Birthday,
Everybody's Sure to Be Gay, for She Cannot Help the Fact That She Was
Born.'"

"That's a pretty long title, Scraps," said Dorothy.

"That makes it stylish," replied the Patchwork Girl, turning a
somersault and alighting on one stuffed foot. "Now-a-days the titles
are sometimes long