the joy
and merriment of Ozma's birthday banquet."

Dorothy thanked her friend and entered the Red Wagon and told the
Sawhorse to take her back home to the palace in the Emerald City.

On the way she thought the matter over seriously of making a surprise
birthday cake and finally decided what to do.

As soon as she reached home, she went to the Wizard of Oz, who had a
room fitted up in one of the high towers of the palace, where he
studied magic so as to be able to perform such wizardry as Ozma
commanded him to do for the welfare of her subjects.

The Wizard and Dorothy were firm friends and had enjoyed many strange
adventures together. He was a little man with a bald head and sharp
eyes and a round, jolly face, and because he was neither haughty nor
proud he had become a great favorite with the Oz people.

"Wizard," said Dorothy, "I want you to help me fix up a present for
Ozma's birthday."

"I'll be glad to do anything for you and for Ozma," he answered.
"What's on your mind, Dorothy?"

"I'm going to make a great cake, with frosting and candles, and all
that, you know."

"Very good," said the Wizard.

"In the center of this cake I'm going to leave a hollow place, with
just a roof of the frosting over it," continued the girl.

"Very good," repeated the Wizard, nodding his bald head.

"In that hollow place," said Dorothy, "I want to hide a lot of monkeys
about three inches high, and after the cake is placed on the banquet
table, I want the monkeys to break through the frosting and dance
around on the table-cloth. Then, I want each monkey to cut out a piece
of cake and hand it to a guest."

"Mercy me!" cried the little Wizard, as he chuckled with laughter. "Is
that ALL you want, Dorothy?"

"Almost," said she. "Can you think of anything more the little monkeys
can do, Wizard?"

"Not just now," he replied. "But where will you get such tiny monkeys?"

"That's where you're to help me," said Dorothy. "In some of those wild
forests in the Gillikin Country are lots of monkeys."

"Big ones," said the Wizard.

"Well, you and I will go there, and we'll get some of the big monkeys,
and you will make them small--just three inches high--by means of your
magic, and we'll put the little monkeys all in a basket and bring them
home with us. Then you'll train them to dance--up here in your room,
where no one can see them--and on Ozma's birthday we'll put 'em into
the cake and they'll know by that time just wh