Graham's anxiety quickly subsided. Telly's clever ploy had worked. "You
are a vision of loveliness," said the boy.

"I am, aren't I? I'm gorgeous!" She then began to dance and flitted
around like a young girl as she broke into a rendering of a song from
the musical play _West Side Story_:

"_I feel pretty ... Oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and gay
And I pity
Any girl who isn't me today
I feel charming
Oh so charming
It's alarming how charming I feel
And so pretty
That I hardly can believe I'm real!_"

After she finished the song, she closed her eyes in sheer ecstasy and
heaved a long, contented sigh. She stood there like that for the longest
time. Graham and Telly quickly seized the moment and tiptoed behind a
hedgerow and, as soon as they were out of earshot, they ran like the
wind as far as they could go. As soon as they felt they were safe, they
collapsed in a heap in uncontrollable laughter.

CHAPTER TEN:

A MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

It had been quite some time since escaping from the Witch again, and the
two friends walked along the road lost in thought. Well, that is to say,
Graham was lost in thought, whereas Telly was absent-mindedly playing an
old commercial:

_Double your pleasure, double your fun,
Get double ev'rything rolled into one,
Oh, double your pleasure, double your fun,
with double good, double good,
Double-mint gum_.

Suddenly, the pair came across a sign at the side of the road which
read:

_OZ INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT DEPARTURES UPPER LEVEL ARRIVALS LOWER LEVEL
FOLLOW THE BLUE SIGNS FOR THE UPPER LEVEL FOLLOW THE RED SIGNS FOR THE
LOWER LEVEL_

"Telly!" cried Graham. "Telly! I can't believe it! An airport in Oz? Why
didn't you tell me? Now I can go home. All I have to do is buy a ticket.
They can call my dad and get his credit card number."

"Now wait a minute!" Telly exclaimed. "Not so fast, my young friend.
There is no airport in Oz. Never was, and never will be. It's just not
possible for airplanes to fly here from anywhere. Queen Ozma herself saw
to that after a certain incident with a little girl and a pet monkey.
No, this cannot be for real. Must be some kind of trick."

Graham was crestfallen. He was just not prepared to accept such a dismal
opinion. "Oh, no! I'm sure you're mistaken. They wouldn't have a sign
like that if there was no airport there."

"Well, I hate to say I told you so. But you'll see when we get there
that there's