believe me to be an impostor?"

"I dare not say," replied Lady Aurex in a low tone.

"Why are you afraid to speak freely?" inquired Ozma.

"The Queen punishes us if we make remarks that she does not like."

"Are we not alone then, in this house?"

"The Queen can hear everything that is spoken on this island--even the
slightest whisper," declared Lady Aurex. "She is a wonderful witch, as
she has told you, and it is folly to criticise her or disobey her
commands."

Ozma looked into her eyes and saw that she would like to say more if
she dared. So she drew from her bosom her silver wand, and having
muttered a magic phrase in a strange tongue, she left the room and
walked slowly around the outside of the house, making a complete circle
and waving her wand in mystic curves as she walked. Lady Aurex watched
her curiously and, when Ozma had again entered the room and seated
herself, she asked:

"What have you done?"

"I've enchanted this house in such a manner that Queen Coo-ee-oh, with
all her witchcraft, cannot hear one word we speak within the magic
circle I have made," replied Ozma. "We may now speak freely and as
loudly as we wish, without fear of the Queen's anger."

Lady Aurex brightened at this.

"Can I trust you?" she asked.

"Ev'rybody trusts Ozma," exclaimed Dorothy. "She is true and honest,
and your wicked Queen will be sorry she insulted the powerful Ruler of
all the Land of Oz."

"The Queen does not know me yet," said Ozma, "but I want you to know
me, Lady Aurex, and I want you to tell me why you, and all the
Skeezers, are unhappy. Do not fear Coo-ee-oh's anger, for she cannot
hear a word we say, I assure you."

Lady Aurex was thoughtful a moment; then she said: "I shall trust you,
Princess Ozma, for I believe you are what you say you are--our supreme
Ruler. If you knew the dreadful punishments our Queen inflicts upon us,
you would not wonder we are so unhappy. The Skeezers are not bad
people; they do not care to quarrel and fight, even with their enemies
the Flatheads; but they are so cowed and fearful of Coo-ee-oh that they
obey her slightest word, rather than suffer her anger."

"Hasn't she any heart, then?" asked Dorothy.

"She never displays mercy. She loves no one but herself," asserted Lady
Aurex, but she trembled as she said it, as if afraid even yet of her
terrible Queen.

"That's pretty bad," said Dorothy, shaking her head gravely. "I see
you've a lot to do here, Ozma, in this forsa