vent it!" asserted Ozma.

"You can't prevent it. But since you threaten me, I'll have you
confined in the bronze prison until the war is over," said the Su-dic.
He whistled and four stout Flatheads, armed with axes and spears,
entered the room and saluted him. Turning to the men he said: "Take
these two girls, bind them with wire ropes and cast them into the
bronze prison."

The four men bowed low and one of them asked:

"Where are the two girls, most noble Su-dic?"

The Su-dic turned to where Ozma and Dorothy had stood but they had
vanished!

Chapter Seven

The Magic Isle

Ozma, seeing it was useless to argue with the Supreme Dictator of the
Flatheads, had been considering how best to escape from his power. She
realized that his sorcery might be difficult to overcome, and when he
threatened to cast Dorothy and her into a bronze prison she slipped her
hand into her bosom and grasped her silver wand. With the other hand
she grasped the hand of Dorothy, but these motions were so natural that
the Su-dic did not notice them. Then when he turned to meet his four
soldiers, Ozma instantly rendered both herself and Dorothy invisible
and swiftly led her companion around the group of Flatheads and out of
the room. As they reached the entry and descended the stone steps, Ozma
whispered:

"Let us run, dear! We are invisible, so no one will see us."

Dorothy understood and she was a good runner. Ozma had marked the place
where the grand stairway that led to the plain was located, so they
made directly for it. Some people were in the paths but these they
dodged around. One or two Flatheads heard the pattering of footsteps of
the girls on the stone pavement and stopped with bewildered looks to
gaze around them, but no one interfered with the invisible fugitives.

The Su-dic had lost no time in starting the chase. He and his men ran
so fast that they might have overtaken the girls before they reached
the stairway had not the Golden Pig suddenly run across their path. The
Su-dic tripped over the pig and fell flat, and his four men tripped
over him and tumbled in a heap. Before they could scramble up and reach
the mouth of the passage it was too late to stop the two girls.

There was a guard on each side of the stairway, but of course they did
not see Ozma and Dorothy as they sped past and descended the steps.
Then they had to go up five steps and down another ten, and so on, in
the same manner in which they had cli