She placed a claw upon this and said
"Ev," and at once the footstool vanished and a lovely lady, tall and
slender and most beautifully robed, stood before her.

The lady's eyes were round with astonishment for a moment, for she could
not remember her transformation, nor imagine what had restored her to
life.

"Good morning, ma'am," said Billina, in her sharp voice. "You're looking
quite well, considering your age."

"Who speaks?" demanded the Queen of Ev, drawing herself up proudly.

"Why, my name's Bill, by rights," answered the hen, who was now perched
upon the back of a chair; "although Dorothy has put scollops on it and
made it Billina. But the name doesn't matter. I've saved you from the
Nome King, and you are a slave no longer."

"Then I thank you for the gracious favor," said the Queen, with a
graceful courtesy. "But, my children--tell me, I beg of you--where are
my children?" and she clasped her hands in anxious entreaty.

"Don't worry," advised Billina, pecking at a tiny bug that was crawling
over the chair back. "Just at present they are out of mischief and
perfectly safe, for they can't even wiggle."

"What mean you, O kindly stranger?" asked the Queen, striving to repress
her anxiety.

"They're enchanted," said Billina, "just as you have been--all, that is,
except the little fellow Dorothy picked out. And the chances are that
they have been good boys and girls for some time, because they couldn't
help it."

"Oh, my poor darlings!" cried the Queen, with a sob of anguish.

"Not at all," returned the hen. "Don't let their condition make you
unhappy, ma'am, because I'll soon have them crowding 'round to bother
and worry you as naturally as ever. Come with me, if you please, and
I'll show you how pretty they look."

She flew down from her perch and walked into the next room, the Queen
following. As she passed a low table a small green grasshopper caught
her eye, and instantly Billina pounced upon it and snapped it up in her
sharp bill. For grasshoppers are a favorite food with hens, and they
usually must be caught quickly, before they can hop away. It might
easily have been the end of Ozma of Oz, had she been a real grasshopper
instead of an emerald one. But Billina found the grasshopper hard and
lifeless, and suspecting it was not good to eat she quickly dropped it
instead of letting it slide down her throat.

"I might have known better," she muttered to herself, "for where there
is no grass ther