stant forget all he had learned, the King put that
sign upon the fountain, where it has remained for many centuries up to
this very day."

They had all listened intently to Ozma's story, and when she finished
speaking there was a long period of silence while all thought upon the
curious magical power of the Water of Oblivion.

Finally the Scarecrow's painted face took on a broad smile that
stretched the cloth as far as it would go.

"How thankful I am," he said, "that I have such an excellent assortment
of brains!"

"I gave you the best brains I ever mixed," declared the Wizard, with an
air of pride.

"You did, indeed!" agreed the Scarecrow, "and they work so splendidly
that they have found a way to save Oz--to save us all!"

"I'm glad to hear that," said the Wizard. "We never needed saving more
than we do just now."

"Do you mean to say you can save us from those awful Phanfasms, and
Growleywogs and Whimsies?" asked Dorothy eagerly.

"I'm sure of it, my dear," asserted the Scarecrow, still smiling
genially.

"Tell us how!" cried the Tin Woodman.

"Not now," said the Scarecrow. "You may all go to bed, and I advise
you to forget your worries just as completely as if you had drunk of
the Water of Oblivion in the Forbidden Fountain. I'm going to stay
here and tell my plan to Ozma alone, but if you will all be at the
Forbidden Fountain at daybreak, you'll see how easily we will save the
kingdom when our enemies break through the crust of earth and come from
the tunnel."

So they went away and let the Scarecrow and Ozma alone; but Dorothy
could not sleep a wink all night.

"He is only a Scarecrow," she said to herself, "and I'm not sure that
his mixed brains are as clever as he thinks they are."

But she knew that if the Scarecrow's plan failed they were all lost; so
she tried to have faith in him.

27. How the Fierce Warriors Invaded Oz

The Nome King and his terrible allies sat at the banquet table until
midnight. There was much quarreling between the Growleywogs and
Phanfasms, and one of the wee-headed Whimsies got angry at General Guph
and choked him until he nearly stopped breathing. Yet no one was
seriously hurt, and the Nome King felt much relieved when the clock
struck twelve and they all sprang up and seized their weapons.

"Aha!" shouted the First and Foremost. "Now to conquer the Land of Oz!"

He marshaled his Phanfasms in battle array and at his word of command
they marched into