TUZZLE AT THE COURT OF OZ

About fifteen minutes later, Bettsy and Dorothy, looking up from a game of croquet on the palace lawn, dropped their gold mallets and simply stared, for moving toward them under the lime-drop trees was a perfectly amazing procession. First came eight tall, splendid slaves bearing flowering orange branches, then the very Grand Vizier of Samandra in a very grand sedan chair, carried by four more slaves; back of him stepped the eight other slaves bearing the twenty embroidered shawls. Tuzzle, on his part, was as amazed as the little girls, for though he was accustomed to comfort and even elegance at the Sultan's court, the Emerald City so surpassed in beauty and magnificence any place he had ever seen or visited that he had done nothing but grunt and exclaim with admiration and surprise as he was rapidly borne along the jewelled streets of Ozma's lovely capital. By the time he reached the castle itself, he had barely breath enough to speak.

"Princess!" puffed the Grand Vizier, as his chair came opposite Dorothy, whom he instantly recognized, "Princess, I would speak with the Queen of Oz."

"Certainly! Certainly!" stuttered Dorothy, reaching up hastily for her crown, which she had hung on the branch of a tulip tree, while Bettsy in her interest and excitement tripped over a wicket and sat down. But picking herself up quickly the little girl ran ahead to announce the arrival of distinguished visitors, so that by the time the procession reached the castle, Ozma was already seated upon her throne, waiting with dignity to welcome them.

"Your Majesty," began Tuzzle, stepping pompously from the sedan chair and bending himself almost in half, "his Serene Highness, the Sultan of Samandra, sends you his royal loyal greetings and salutations."

"The greetings of his Highness are graciously received," answered Ozma kindly, though she had never heard of the Sultan in her whole life. "And what is it his Serene Highness desires of us?" she inquired, with a curious glance at the Samandran slaves. Long experience at ruling had taught her that strange sovereigns seldom sent gifts unless they wanted something in return.

"His Highness," continued Tuzzle, a little embarrassed by Ozma's frank query, "desires nothing more valuable than a camel. This camel was lost in a great sand storm and has been missing ten long years from the royal herd. It is the favorite mount of his Excellency, so kind and comfortable a creature that since its loss our sovereign has been inconsolable. After countless unsuccessful searches, Chinda, our Chief Prophet and Seer has, with the aid of a magic telescope, caught a glimpse of the beast in your Majesty's stable." Casting down his eyes, Tuzzle waited anxiously for Ozma to speak.

[Illustration: "HIS HIGHNESS DESIRES NOTHING MORE VALUABLE THAN A CAMEL."]

"Why, it must be the Comfortable Camel Sir Hokus brought to the Emerald City long ago!" exclaimed Dorothy, with a little hop of excitement. "Come on, let's go ask him."

"Well, it will do no harm," answered Ozma, readily enough. "And if our Comfortable Camel really belongs to the Sultan of Samandra, and really wishes to return to his master, I see no reason why he should not do so, though we'll be sorry indeed to lose him."

"Very good, your Highness!" mumbled Tuzzle, who was a little confused by the informal procedure at Ozma's court. Scraps, Trot, and the Scarecrow were playing leap frog at one end of the throne room. Tik Tok and the Cowardly Lion were running races at the other, and all the rest of the celebrities were grouped about the Lost King and the Soldier with Green Whiskers, who were in the midst of an exciting game of checkers. But when Ozma and the Grand Vizier started for the Royal Stables, they all stopped what they were doing and trooped along, causing Tuzzle much anxiety and uneasiness by their boisterous skips, vigorous claps upon the back, and continuous friendly questioning. But when the company reached the stall usually occupied by the Comfortable Camel, it was empty, and though grooms and stable boys were dispatched in every direction, no trace of the kindly creature could be found. The Doubtful Dromedary knew nothing of his whereabouts, and when a page was sent to question Sir Hokus, he reported that the Good Knight of Oz was also missing from his apartment. It was, as a matter of fact, the day after Sir Hokus had started upon his quest, but everyone in the palace had been so occupied preparing to accompany him that they had not missed the Good Knight at all.

"Perhaps Sir Hokus has taken the camel to the next village for supplies," suggested Trot, and after many speculations and conjectures they all agreed that she might be right.

"Never fear, they'll both be back," predicted the Scarecrow, winking cheerfully at the Grand Vizier, "and meanwhile, why not enjoy our hospitality? No, you seem to be well stuffed already," he observed, thumping Tuzzle upon the chest.

"Nay, nay, the Sultan can illy spare me," muttered the Grand Vizier. "I must return at once!" And stepping into his sedan chair he motioned for the slaves to start.

"And what about the shawls?" demanded Scraps, who had taken a great fancy to a white one embroidered in scarlet. "It's not our fault the Comfortable Camel has gone away."

"Sh--h! Sh--h!" warned Ozma, shaking her finger reprovingly at the Patchwork Girl, while Dorothy and Bettsy giggled in spite of themselves. "As soon as the Comfortable Camel returns we shall send a message to your illustrious master," promised Ozma, bowing politely to Tuzzle. "I am sure it will not be longer than a week."

"Well, in that case," wheezed the very Grand Vizier ungraciously, "I hope your Majesty will accept this small gift from the Sultan."

"With pleasure," smiled Ozma, but before the slaves had time to present the shawls, Scraps snatched all twenty and throwing one to Dorothy, one to Trot, and one to Bettsy, dropped the rest in Ozma's lap and, wrapping herself tightly in the red and white one, whirled madly round and round Tuzzle. Fearing to linger longer at a court where animals conversed as sensibly as people, and such strange conduct was permitted, Tuzzle scrambled into his sedan chair. Bidding Ozma a hasty farewell, he ordered his attendants to carry him at once to the Royal Sampan. This they did, and at such a brisk run that the Oz folk burst into loud cheers of admiration and approval, for considering the size and weight of the very Grand Vizier, the speed of his slaves was remarkable.

"Do you think the Comfortable Camel really belongs to this Sultan?" asked Dorothy, as the last Samandran disappeared from view.

"Let's look in the magic picture!" suggested Bettsy Bobbin. "Let's see what he's like and find out where Sir Hokus and the Comfortable Camel have gone, too." As this seemed a sensible plan, they all hurried up into Ozma's sitting room. The magic picture, as most all of us know, is one of the most important of Ozma's treasures. She has but to ask the magic picture where a person is, and immediately he is shown in the exact country or city where he happens to be at the time of the question. So, with the celebrities looking breathlessly over her shoulder, Ozma pulled the cord that drew aside the curtain covering the picture, and said quietly, "Show us the Comfortable Camel." But stars! Nothing at all happened, for the magic picture was not there, and with little exclamations of alarm and dismay they gazed at the empty space on the wall.

"Who can have taken it?" cried Dorothy indignantly.

"Call the Wizard," shrilled the Scarecrow, and ran off, himself, to fetch him. But the Wizard, deep in his preparations for the Good Knight's quest, could throw no light upon the subject at all. In the huge encyclopædia of Oz they did learn a bit about Samandra, its ruler and its customs, but of the whereabouts of the Comfortable Camel, of Sir Hokus of Pokes, or the famous picture of Oz, even the Wizard's magic could tell them nothing.

"But do not despair," begged the little man earnestly, that night at dinner. "I have almost perfected a new and marvelous invention. If our Good Knight and Comfortable Camel do not soon return, and if the magic picture is not found or discovered, I will seek them out with the help of my powerful searchlight. This searchlight, shot like an ordinary shell from a cannon, will travel all over Oz until it finds what it is sent for and then flash back with the exact location of the missing objects and people." Taking them down to his laboratory, the Wizard endeavored to explain the strange rays and phosphorescent material to be used in this latest magic contrivance. It was a little difficult to understand, but Ozma and her courtiers had great confidence in the Wizard's powers and, much cheered and comforted, they went off to bed.