Chapter Twenty-One. The Three Adepts

Glinda of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

The Sorceress looked up from her work as the three maidens
entered, and something in their appearance and manner led her to rise
and bow to them in her most dignified manner. The three knelt an
instant before the great Sorceress and then stood upright and waited
for her to speak.

"Whoever you may be," said Glinda, "I bid you welcome."

"My name is Audah," said one.

"My name is Aurah," said another.

"My name is Aujah," said the third.

Glinda had never heard these names before, but looking closely
at the three she asked:

"Are you witches or workers in magic?"

"Some of the secret arts we have gleaned from Nature," replied
the brownhaired maiden modestly, "but we do not place our skill
beside that of the Great Sorceress, Glinda the Good."

"I suppose you are aware it is unlawful to practice magic in the
Land of Oz, without the permission of our Ruler, Princess Ozma?"

"No, we were not aware of that," was the reply. "We have heard
of Ozma, who is the appointed Ruler of all this great fairyland, but
her laws have not reached us, as yet."

Glinda studied the strange maidens thoughtfully; then she said
to them:

"Princess Ozma is even now imprisoned in the Skeezer village.
for the whole island with its Great Dome, was sunk to the bottom of
the lake by the witchcraft of Coo-ee-oh, whom the Flathead Su-dic
transformed into a silly swan. I am seeking some way to overcome
Coo-ee-oh's magic and raise the isle to the surface again. Can you
help me do this?"

The maidens exchanged glances, and the white-haired one
replied

"We do not know; but we will try to assist you."

"It seems," continued Glinda musingly, "that Coo-ee-oh derived
most of her witchcraft from three Adepts at Magic, who at one time
ruled the Flatheads. While the Adepts were being entertained by
Coo-ee-oh at a banquet in her palace, she cruelly betrayed them and
after transforming them into fishes cast them into the lake.

"If I could find these three fishes and return them to their
natural shapes -- they might know what magic Coo-ee-oh used to sink
the island. I was about to go to the shore and call these fishes to
me when you arrived. So, if you will join me, we will try to find
them."

The maidens exchanged smiles now, and the golden- haired one,
Audah, said to Glinda:

"It will not be necessary to go to the lake. We are the three
fishes."

"Indeed!" cried Glinda. "Then you are the three Adepts at Magic,
restored to your proper forms?"

"We are the three Adepts," admitted Aujah.

"Then," said Glinda, "my task is half accomplished. But who
destroyed the transformation that made you fishes?"

"We have promised not to tell," answered Aurah; "but this young
Skeezer was largely responsible for our release; he is brave and
clever, and we owe him our gratitude."

Glinda looked at Ervic, who stood modestly behind the Adepts,
hat in hand. "He shall be properly rewarded," she declared, "for in
helping you he has helped us all, and perhaps saved his people from
being imprisoned forever in the sunken isle."

The Sorceress now asked her guests to seat themselves and a long
talk followed, in which the Wizard of Oz shared.

"We are quite certain," said Aurah, "that if we could get inside
the Dome we could discover Coo-ee-oh's secrets, for in all her work,
after we became fishes, she used the formulas and incantations and
arts that she stole from us. She may have added to these things, but
they were the foundation of all her work."

"What means do you suggest for our getting into the Dome?"
inquired Glinda.

The three Adepts hesitated to reply, for they had not yet
considered what could be done to reach the inside of the Great Dome.
While they were in deep thought, and Glinda and the Wizard were
quietly awaiting their suggestions, into the tent rushed Trot and
Betsy, dragging between them the Patchwork Girl.

"Oh, Glinda," cried Trot, "Scraps has thought of a way to rescue
Ozma and Dorothy and all of the Skeezers."

The three Adepts could not avoid laughing merrily, for not only
were they amused by the queer form of the Patchwork Girl, but Trot's
enthusiastic speech struck them as really funny. If the Great
Sorceress and the famous Wizard and the three talented Adepts at
Magic were unable as yet to solve the important problem of the sunken
isle, there was little chance for a patched girl stuffed with cotton
to succeed.

But Glinda, smiling indulgently at the earnest faces turned
toward her, patted the children's heads and said:

"Scraps is very clever. Tell us what she has thought of, my
dear."

"Well," said Trot, "Scraps says that if you could dry up all the
water in the lake the island would be on dry land, an' everyone could
come and go whenever they liked."

Glinda smiled again, but the Wizard said to the girls:

"If we should dry up the lake, what would become of all the
beautiful fishes that now live in the water?"

"Dear me! That's so," admitted Betsy, crestfallen; "we never
thought of that, did we Trot?"

"Couldn't you transform 'em into polliwogs?" asked Scraps,
turning a somersault and then standing on one leg. "You could give
them a little, teeny pond to swim in, and they'd be just as happy as
they are as fishes."

"No indeed!" replied the Wizard, severely. "It is wicked to
transform any living creatures without their consent, and the lake is
the home of the fishes and belongs to them."

"All right," said Scraps, making a face at him; "I don't
care."

"It's too bad," sighed Trot, "for I thought we'd struck a
splendid idea."

"So you did," declared Glinda, her face now grave and
thoughtful. "There is something in the Patchwork Girl's idea that may
be of real value to us."

"I think so, too," agreed the golden-haired Adept. "The top of
the Great Dome is only a few feet below the surface of the water. If
we could reduce the level of the lake until the Dome sticks a little
above the water, we could remove some of the glass and let ourselves
down into the village by means of ropes."

"And there would be plenty of water left for the fishes to swim
in," added the white-haired maiden.

"If we succeed in raising the island we could fill up the lake
again," suggested the brown-haired Adept.

"I believe," said the Wizard, rubbing his hands together in
delight, "that the Patchwork Girl has shown us the way to
success."

The girls were looking curiously at the three beautiful Adepts,
wondering who they were, so Glinda introduced them to Trot and Betsy
and Scraps, and then sent the children away while she considered how
to carry the new idea into effect.

Not much could be done that night, so the Wizard prepared
another tent for the Adepts, and in the evening Glinda held a
reception and invited all her followers to meet the new arrivals. The
Adepts were greatly astonished at the extraordinary personages
presented to them, and marveled that Jack Pumpkinhead and the
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and Tik-Tok could really live and think
and talk just like other people. They were especially pleased with
the lively Patchwork Girl and loved to watch her antics.

It was quite a pleasant party, for Glinda served some dainty
refreshments to those who could eat, and the Scarecrow recited some
poems, and the Cowardly Lion sang a song in his deep bass voice. The
only thing that marred their joy was the thought that their beloved
Ozma and dear little Dorothy were yet confined in the Great Dome of
the Sunken island.