hem, pretty full;
but the Sawhorse didn't mind that and with wonderful speed carried them
safely to the Emerald City.

Chapter Twenty Two

Ozma's Banquet

Ozma had seen in her Magic Picture the liberation of Inga's parents and
the departure of the entire party for the Emerald City, so with her
usual hospitality she ordered a splendid banquet prepared and invited
all her quaint friends who were then in the Emerald City to be present
that evening to meet the strangers who were to become her guests.

Glinda, also, in her wonderful Record Book had learned of the events
that had taken place in the caverns of the Nome King and she became
especially interested in the enchantment of the Prince of Boboland. So
she hastily prepared several of her most powerful charms and then
summoned her flock of sixteen white storks, which swiftly bore her to
Ozma's palace. She arrived there before the Red Wagon did and was
warmly greeted by the girl Ruler.

Realizing that the costume of Queen Garee of Pingaree must have become
sadly worn and frayed, owing to her hardships and adventures, Ozma
ordered a royal outfit prepared for the good Queen and had it laid in
her chamber ready for her to put on as soon as she arrived, so she
would not be shamed at the banquet. New costumes were also provided for
King Kitticut and King Rinkitink and Prince Inga, all cut and made and
embellished in the elaborate and becoming style then prevalent in the
Land of Oz, and as soon as the party arrived at the palace Ozma's
guests were escorted by her servants to their rooms, that they might
bathe and dress themselves.

Glinda the Sorceress and the Wizard of Oz took charge of Bilbil the
goat and went to a private room where they were not likely to be
interrupted. Glinda first questioned Bilbil long and earnestly about
the manner of his enchantment and the ceremony that had been used by
the magician who enchanted him. At first Bilbil protested that he did
not want to be restored to his natural shape, saying that he had been
forever disgraced in the eyes of his people and of the entire world by
being obliged to exist as a scrawny, scraggly goat. But Glinda pointed
out that any person who incurred the enmity of a wicked magician was
liable to suffer a similar fate, and assured him that his misfortune
would make him better beloved by his subjects when he returned to them
freed from his dire enchantment.

Bilbil was finally convinced of the truth of this