Ozma, seeing it was useless to argue with the SupremeDictator of the Flatheads. had been considering howbest to escape from his power. She realized that hissorcery might be difficult to overcome, and when hethreatened to cast Dorothy and her into a bronze prisonshe slipped her hand into her bosom and grasped hersilver wand. With the other hand she grasped the handof Dorothy, but these motions were so natural that theSu-dic did not notice them. Then when he turned to meethis four soldiers, Ozma instantly rendered both herselfand Dorothy invisible and swiftly led her companionaround the group of Flatheads and out of the room. Asthey reached the entry and descended the stone steps,Ozma whispered:

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

Dorothy understood and she was a good runner. Ozmahad marked the place where the grand stairway that ledto the plain was located, so they made directly for it.Some people were in the paths but these they dodgedaround. One or two Flatheads heard the pattering offootsteps of the girls on the stone pavement andstopped with bewildered looks to gaze around them, butno one interfered with the invisible fugitives.

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

There was a guard on each side of the stairway, butof course they did not see Ozma and Dorothy as theysped past and descended the steps. Then they had to goup five steps and down another ten, and so on, in thesame manner in which they had climbed to the top of themountain. Ozma lighted their way with her wand and theykept on without relaxing their speed until they reachedthe bottom. Then they ran to the right and turned thecorner of the invisible wall just as the Su-dic and hisfollowers rushed out of the arched entrance and lookedaround in an attempt to discover the fugitives.

Ozma now knew they were safe, so she told Dorothy tostop and both of them sat down on the grass until theycould breathe freely and become rested from their madflight.

As for the Su-dic, he realized he was foiled and soonturned and climbed his stairs again. He was very angry-- angry with Ozma and angry with himself -- because,now that he took time to think, he remembered that heknew very well the art of making people invisible, andvisible again, and if he had only thought of it in timehe could have used his magic knowledge to make thegirls visible and so have captured them easily.However, it was now too late for regrets and hedetermined to make preparations at once to march allhis forces against the Skeezers.

"What shall we do next?" asked Dorothy, when theywere rested.

"Let us find the Lake of the Skeezers," replied Ozma."From what that dreadful Su-dic said I imagine theSkeezers are good people and worthy of our friendship,and if we go to them we may help them to defeat theFlatheads."

"I s'pose we can't stop the war now," remarkedDorothy reflectively, as they walked toward the row ofpalm trees.

"No; the Su-dic is determined to fight the Skeezers,so all we can do is to warn them of their danger andhelp them as much as possible."

"Of course you'll punish the Flatheads," saidDorothy.

"Well, I do not think the Flathead people are as muchto blame as their Supreme Dictator," was the answer."If he is removed from power and his unlawful magictaken from him, the people will probably be good andrespect the laws of the Land of Oz, and live at peacewith all their neighbors in the future."

"I hope so," said Dorothy with a sigh of doubt

The palms were not far from the mountain and thegirls reached them after a brisk walk. The huge treeswere set close together, in three rows, and had beenplanted so as to keep people from passing them, but theFlatheads had cut a passage through this barrier andOzma found the path and led Dorothy to the other side.

Beyond the palms they discovered a very beautifulscene. Bordered by a green lawn was a great lake fullya mile from shore to shore, the waters of which wereexquisitely blue and sparkling, with little waveletsbreaking its smooth surface where the breezes touchedit. In the center of this lake appeared a lovelyisland, not of great extent but almost entirely coveredby a huge round building with glass walls and a highglass dome which glittered brilliantly in the sunshine.Between the glass building and the edge of the islandwas no grass, flowers or shrubbery, but only an expanseof highly polished white marble. There were no boats oneither shore and no signs of life could be seenanywhere on the island.

"Well," said Dorothy, gazing wistfully at the island,we've found the Lake of the Skeezers and their MagicIsle. I guess the Skeezers are in that big glasspalace, but we can't get at 'em."