on't
seem to do anything in a bold straightforward manner. In making this
passage they forced everyone to walk three times as far as is
necessary. And of course this trip is just as tiresome to the Flatheads
as it is to other folks."

"That is true," answered Ozma; "yet it is a clever arrangement to
prevent their being surprised by intruders. Every time we reach the
tenth step of a flight, the pressure of our feet on the stone makes a
bell ring on top of the mountain, to warn the Flatheads of our coming."

"How do you know that?" demanded Dorothy, astonished.

"I've heard the bell ever since we started," Ozma told her. "You could
not hear it, I know, but when I am holding my wand in my hand I can
hear sounds a great distance off."

"Do you hear anything on top of the mountain 'cept the bell?" inquired
Dorothy.

"Yes. The people are calling to one another in alarm and many footsteps
are approaching the place where we will reach the flat top of the
mountain."

This made Dorothy feel somewhat anxious. "I'd thought we were going to
visit just common, ordinary people," she remarked, "but they're pretty
clever, it seems, and they know some kinds of magic, too. They may be
dangerous, Ozma. P'raps we'd better stayed at home."

Finally the upstairs-and-downstairs passage seemed coming to an end,
for daylight again appeared ahead of the two girls and Ozma replaced
her wand in the bosom of her gown. The last ten steps brought them to
the surface, where they found themselves surrounded by such a throng of
queer people that for a time they halted, speechless, and stared into
the faces that confronted them.

Dorothy knew at once why these mountain people were called Flatheads.
Their heads were really flat on top, as if they had been cut off just
above the eyes and ears. Also the heads were bald, with no hair on top
at all, and the ears were big and stuck straight out, and the noses
were small and stubby, while the mouths of the Flatheads were well
shaped and not unusual. Their eyes were perhaps their best feature,
being large and bright and a deep violet in color.

The costumes of the Flatheads were all made of metals dug from their
mountain. Small gold, silver, tin and iron discs, about the size of
pennies, and very thin, were cleverly wired together and made to form
knee trousers and jackets for the men and skirts and waists for the
women. The colored metals were skillfully mixed to form stripes and
checks of various so