There could be no doubt of the fact: Princess Ozma, the lovely girlruler of the Fairyland of Oz, was lost. She had completelydisappeared.Not one of her subjects--not even her closestfriends--knew what had become of her. It was Dorothy who firstdiscovered it. Dorothy was a little Kansas girl who had come to theLand of Oz to live and had been given a delightful suite of rooms inOzma's royal palace just because Ozma loved Dorothy and wanted her tolive as near her as possible so the two girls might be much together.

Dorothy was not the only girl from the outside world who had beenwelcomed to Oz and lived in the royal palace. There was another namedBetsy Bobbin, whose adventures had led her to seek refuge with Ozma,and still another named Trot, who had been invited, together with herfaithful companion Cap'n Bill, to make her home in this wonderfulfairyland. The three girls all had rooms in the palace and were greatchums; but Dorothy was the dearest friend of their gracious Ruler andonly she at any hour dared to seek Ozma in her royal apartments. ForDorothy had lived in Oz much longer than the other girls and had beenmade a Princess of the realm.

Betsy was a year older than Dorothy and Trot was a year younger, yetthe three were near enough of an age to become great playmates and tohave nice times together. It was while the three were talkingtogether one morning in Dorothy's room that Betsy proposed they make ajourney into the Munchkin Country, which was one of the four greatcountries of the Land of Oz ruled by Ozma. "I've never been thereyet," said Betsy Bobbin, "but the Scarecrow once told me it is theprettiest country in all Oz."

"I'd like to go, too," added Trot.

"All right," said Dorothy. "I'll go and ask Ozma. Perhaps she willlet us take the Sawhorse and the Red Wagon, which would be much nicerfor us than having to walk all the way. This Land of Oz is a prettybig place when you get to all the edges of it."

So she jumped up and went along the halls of the splendid palace untilshe came to the royal suite, which filled all the front of the secondfloor. In a little waiting room sat Ozma's maid, Jellia Jamb, who wasbusily sewing. "Is Ozma up yet?" inquired Dorothy.

"I don't know, my dear," replied Jellia. "I haven't heard a word fromher this morning. She hasn't even called for her bath or herbreakfast, and it is far past her usual time for them."

"That's strange!" exclaimed the little girl.

"Yes," agreed the maid, "but of course no harm could have happened toher. No one can die or be killed in the Land of Oz, and Ozma isherself a powerful fairy, and she has no enemies so far as we know.Therefore I am not at all worried about her, though I must admit hersilence is unusual."

"Perhaps," said Dorothy thoughtfully, "she has overslept. Or she maybe reading or working out some new sort of magic to do good to herpeople."

"Any of these things may be true," replied Jellia Jamb, "so I haven'tdared disturb our royal mistress. You, however, are a privilegedcharacter, Princess, and I am sure that Ozma wouldn't mind at all ifyou went in to see her."

"Of course not," said Dorothy, and opening the door of the outerchamber, she went in. All was still here. She walked into anotherroom, which was Ozma's boudoir, and then, pushing back a heavy draperyrichly broidered with threads of pure gold, the girl entered thesleeping-room of the fairy Ruler of Oz. The bed of ivory and gold wasvacant; the room was vacant; not a trace of Ozma was to be found.Very much surprised, yet still with no fear that anything had happenedto her friend, Dorothy returned through the boudoir to the other roomsof the suite. the bath, the wardrobe, and even into the great throneroom, which adjoined the royal suite, but in none of these placescould she find Ozma.

So she returned to the anteroom where she had left the maid, JelliaJamb, and said, "She isn't in her rooms now, so she must have goneout."

"I don't understand how she could do that without my seeing her,"replied Jellia, "unless she made herself invisible."

"She isn't there, anyhow," declared Dorothy.

"Then let us go find her," suggested the maid, who appeared to be alittle uneasy. So they went into the corridors, and there Dorothyalmost stumbled over a queer girl who was dancing lightly along thepassage.

"Stop a minute, Scraps!" she called, "Have you seen Ozma thismorning?"

"Not I!" replied the queer girl, dancing nearer."I lost both my eyesin a tussle with the Woozy last night, for the creature scraped 'emboth off my face with his square paws. So I put the eyes in mypocket, and this morning Button-Bright led me to Aunt Em, who sewed'em on again. So I've seen nothing at all today, except during thelast five minutes. So of course I haven't seen Ozma."

"Very well, Scraps," said Dorothy, looking curiously at the eyes,which were merely two round, black buttons sewed upon the girl's face.

There were other things about Scraps that would have seemed curious toone seeing her for the first time. She was commonly called "thePatchwork Girl" because her body and limbs were made from agay-colored patchwork quilt which had been cut into shape and stuffedwith cotton. Her head was a round ball stuffed in the same manner andfastened to her shoulders. For hair, she had a mass of brown yarn,and to make a nose for her a part of the cloth had been pulled outinto the shape of a knob and tied with a string to hold it in place.Her mouth had been carefully made by cutting a slit in the properplace and lining it with red silk, adding two rows of pearls for teethand a bit of red flannel for a tongue.

In spite of this queer make-up, the Patchwork Girl was magically aliveand had proved herself not the least jolly and agreeable of the manyquaint characters who inhabit the astonishing Fairyland of Oz.Indeed, Scraps was a general favorite, although she was rather flightyand erratic and did and said many things that surprised her friends.She was seldom still, but loved to dance, to turn handsprings andsomersaults, to climb trees and to indulge in many other activesports.

"I'm going to search for Ozma," remarked Dorothy, "for she isn't inher rooms, and I want to ask her a question."

"I'll go with you," said Scraps, "for my eyes are brighter than yours,and they can see farther."

"I'm not sure of that," returned Dorothy. "But come along, if youlike."

Together they searched all through the great palace and even to thefarthest limits of the palace grounds, which were quite extensive, butnowhere could they find a trace of Ozma. When Dorothy returned towhere Betsy and Trot awaited her, the little girl's face was rathersolemn and troubled, for never before had Ozma gone away withouttelling her friends where she was going, or without an escort thatbefitted her royal state. She was gone, however, and none had seenher go. Dorothy had met and questioned the Scarecrow, Tik-Tok, theShaggy Man, Button-Bright, Cap'n Bill, and even the wise and powerfulWizard of Oz, but not one of them had seen Ozma since she parted withher friends the evening before and had gone to her own rooms.

"She didn't say anything las' night about going anywhere," observedlittle Trot.

"No, and that's the strange part of it," replied Dorothy. "UsuallyOzma lets us know of everything she does."

"Why not look in the Magic Picture?" suggested Betsy Bobbin. "Thatwill tell us where she is in just one second."

"Of course!" cried Dorothy. "Why didn't I think of that before?" Andat once the three girls hurried away to Ozma's boudoir, where theMagic Picture always hung. This wonderful Magic Picture was one ofthe royal Ozma's greatest treasures. There was a large gold frame inthe center of which was a bluish-gray canvas on which various scenesconstantly appeared and disappeared. If one who stood before itwished to see what any person anywhere in the world was doing, it wasonly necessary to make the wish and the scene in the Magic Picturewould shift to the scene where that person was and show exactly whathe or she was then engaged in doing. So the girls knew it would beeasy for them to wish to see Ozma, and from the picture they couldquickly learn where she was.

Dorothy advanced to the place where the picture was usually protectedby thick satin curtains and pulled the draperies aside. Then shestared in amazement, while her two friends uttered exclamations ofdisappointment.

The Magic Picture was gone. Only a blank space onthe wall behind the curtains showed where it had formerly hung.