h!"

"I was, of course, when I was a girl," she said, bending her head over
the clear water to catch her reflection in it; "but now I've forgotten
all such foolish things as magic. Swans are lovelier than girls,
especially when they're sprinkled with diamonds. Don't you think so?"
And she gracefully swam away, without seeming to care whether they
answered or not.

Ervic and his companions were in despair. They saw plainly that
Coo-ee-oh could not or would not help them. The former Queen had no
further thought for her island, her people, or her wonderful magic; she
was only intent on admiring her own beauty.

"Truly," said Ervic, in a gloomy voice, "the Flatheads have conquered
us!"

* * * * *

Some of these events had been witnessed by Ozma and Dorothy and Lady
Aurex, who had left the house and gone close to the glass of the dome,
in order to see what was going on. Many of the Skeezers had also
crowded against the dome, wondering what would happen next. Although
their vision was to an extent blurred by the water and the necessity of
looking upward at an angle, they had observed the main points of the
drama enacted above. They saw Queen Coo-ee-oh's submarine come to the
surface and open; they saw the Queen standing erect to throw her magic
rope; they saw her sudden transformation into a Diamond Swan, and a cry
of amazement went up from the Skeezers inside the dome.

"Good!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I hate that old Su-dic, but I'm glad
Coo-ee-oh is punished."

"This is a dreadful misfortune!" cried Lady Aurex, pressing her hands
upon her heart.

"Yes," agreed Ozma, nodding her head thoughtfully; "Coo-ee-oh's
misfortune will prove a terrible blow to her people."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Dorothy in surprise. "Seems to me the
Skeezers are in luck to lose their cruel Queen."

"If that were all you would be right," responded Lady Aurex; "and if
the island were above water it would not be so serious. But here we all
are, at the bottom of the lake, and fast prisoners in this dome."

"Can't you raise the island?" inquired Dorothy.

"No. Only Coo-ee-oh knew how to do that," was the answer.

"We can try," insisted Dorothy. "If it can be made to go down, it can
be made to come up. The machinery is still here, I suppose.

"Yes; but the machinery works by magic, and Coo-ee-oh would never share
her secret power with any one of us."

Dorothy's face grew grave; but she was thinking.

"Ozma kno