"that was easier than I expected.
It's worth while, sometimes, to be a real fairy. But I wouldn't like to
be that kind, and live in a dreadful fog all the time."

They now climbed the bank and found before them a delightful plain that
spread for miles in all directions. Fragrant wild flowers were
scattered throughout the grass; there were bushes bearing lovely
blossoms and luscious fruits; now and then a group of stately trees
added to the beauty of the landscape. But there were no dwellings or
signs of life.

The farther side of the plain was bordered by a row of palms, and just
in front of the palms rose a queerly shaped hill that towered above the
plain like a mountain. The sides of this hill were straight up and
down; it was oblong in shape and the top seemed flat and level.

"Oh, ho!" cried Dorothy; "I'll bet that's the mountain Glinda told us
of, where the Flatheads live."

"If it is," replied Ozma, "the Lake of the Skeezers must be just beyond
the line of palm trees. Can you walk that far, Dorothy?"

"Of course, in time," was the prompt answer. "I'm sorry we had to leave
the Sawhorse and the Red Wagon behind us, for they'd come in handy just
now; but with the end of our journey in sight a tramp across these
pretty green fields won't tire us a bit."

It was a longer tramp than they suspected, however, and night overtook
them before they could reach the flat mountain. So Ozma proposed they
camp for the night and Dorothy was quite ready to approve. She didn't
like to admit to her friend she was tired, but she told herself that
her legs "had prickers in 'em," meaning they had begun to ache.

Usually when Dorothy started on a journey of exploration or adventure,
she carried with her a basket of food, and other things that a traveler
in a strange country might require, but to go away with Ozma was quite
a different thing, as experience had taught her. The fairy Ruler of Oz
only needed her silver wand--tipped at one end with a great sparkling
emerald--to provide through its magic all that they might need.
Therefore Ozma, having halted with her companion and selected a smooth,
grassy spot on the plain, waved her wand in graceful curves and chanted
some mystic words in her sweet voice, and in an instant a handsome tent
appeared before them. The canvas was striped purple and white, and from
the center pole fluttered the royal banner of Oz.

"Come, dear," said Ozma, taking Dorothy's hand, "I am hungry and I'm
sure