the corridors of the palace for about twenty minutes. But
they seemed to have twisted and turned around. They were not as he
remembered them at all. He wondered at this. Could Ozma have done this
to permanently entrap him? He grew to hate Ozma more and more as the
minutes ticked away. The corridors seemed endless! And none seemed to
lead to anyplace in particular, either. "Ooh!" he said, gritting his
teeth in frustration. "When I find that little twirp of a Queen, I'm
going to show her what-for!" But three more hours of frustration brought
him no closer to this goal. At last, he flung himself to the ground and
looked up at the ceiling. "I hate you, Princess Ozma!" he grunted. "I
hate you!"

[Illustration]

Then, from sheer exhaustion, he fell asleep. He remained asleep for an
undeterminable period of time. He was awakened by a shaft of light in
his eyes. A window! There was a window! He had overlooked it in his
frustrated exhaustion, but now it was evident to him. Oh, it was a bit
high, but he felt that he might be able to jump up to it. He picked
himself up. His body was still a bit exhausted, but he was a young boy.
And in good shape. He made his leap. Then he picked himself up and tried
again. It took him sixteen tries to make it, but he finally managed to
grab hold of the edge of the window. There was no glass, so he pulled
himself through. The land outside was a barren mass of crowded
prickle-weeds and gnarled old trees. Obviously not a part of the Emerald
City that would be mentioned in a travel agent's brochures. But Graham was
determined to find Ozma. He pushed aside the prickling weeds as best he
could and trudged through the dust and muck of the area. It nauseated
him, but he moved on. He thought how odd it was that the Emerald City of
Oz would have such an unpleasant area in it. But he let these thoughts
dissolve as he recalled what an unpleasant queen the place had. After
several hours of fighting against the weeds, most of which were twice
his size, he was surprised to hear a small voice. "Who are you?" it
said.

[Illustration]

"I'm Graham," he replied.

"Really?" said the voice. "I love your crackers. Where are you?"

"I'm in a bunch of weeds," he said.

"Oh? How come?"

"I was trying to find the front of Ozma's palace. Can you help me find
it?"

"I could," said the voice. "But you are about four thousand miles out
of your way."

"What?" said Graham. "You're wrong! I just escaped out of a wi