by L. FRANK BAUM
                      "Royal Historian of Oz"

   This Book
   is Dedicated to
   My Son
   Robert Stanton Baum
 
  Chapter One
  The Call to Duty

    Glinda,
           the good Sorceress of Oz,
         sat in the grand court
               of her palace,
           surrounded by her maids
               of honor a hundred
                   of the
               most beautiful girls
                   of the Fairyland of Oz.

    The palace court
        was built of rare marbles,
           exquisitely polished.

    Fountains tinkled musically here
           and there;
        the vast colonnade,
           open to the south,
         allowed the maidens,
           as they raised
               their heads from their embroideries,
         to gaze
               upon a vista
                   of rose-hued fields
                 and groves of trees
              bearing fruits or
                  laden with sweet-scented flowers.

    At times
           one of the girls
        would start a song,
           the others
              joining in the chorus,
         or one
            would rise and dance,
           gracefully swaying
               to the music
                   of a harp
               played by a companion.

    And then Glinda smiled,
           glad to see
               her maids mixing
             play with work.

    Presently among
           the fields
         an object
        was seen moving,
           threading the broad path
             that led
                   to the castle gate.

    Some of the girls
          looked upon this object enviously;
        the Sorceress merely
            gave it a glance and
                  nodded her stately head
             as if pleased,
           for it
              meant the coming
                   of her friend
                 and mistress
          -- the
              only one
                   in all the land
             that Glinda bowed to.

    Then up the path
          trotted a wooden animal
              attached to a red wagon,
           and as the quaint steed
              halted at the gate there
                  descended from
                       the wagon two young girls,
         Ozma,
           Ruler of Oz,
         and her companion,
           Princess Dorothy.

    Both were
       dressed in simple white
               muslin gowns,
           and as
             they ran
                   up the marble steps
                       of the palace
             they laughed
                and chatted as gaily
             as if
                 they were
                       not the most important persons
                     in the world's loveliest fairyland.

    The maids of honor
        had risen
            and stood with bowed heads
                  to greet the royal Ozma,
           while Glinda came
             forward with outstretched arms
                  to greet her guests.

    "We've just
          come on a visit,
           you know," said Ozma.

    "Both Dorothy and
         I were wondering
           how we
            should pass the day
         when we happened to think
            we'd not
                been to your Quadling Country
                       for weeks,
           so we
            took the Sawhorse
                and rode straight here."

    "And we came so fast,"
          added Dorothy,
               "that our hair
                is blown all fuzzy,
             for the Sawhorse
                makes a wind
                       of his own.

    Usually it's a day's
          journey from the Em'rald City,
           but I don't s'pose
             we were two hours
                   on the way."

    "You are most welcome,"
          said Glinda the Sorceress,
           and led them
               through the court
                   to her magnificent reception hall.

    Ozma took the arm
           of her hostess,
         but Dorothy lagged behind,
         kissing some of the maids
             she knew best,
           talking with others,
         and making them all feel
             that she was their friend.

    When at last
         she joined Glinda and Ozma
               in the reception hall,
           she found them
              talking earnestly
                   about the condition
                       of the people,
         and how
              to make them more happy
                   and contented
          -- although
             they were already the happiest
                   and most contented folks
                 in all the world.

    This interested Ozma,
           of course,
         but it
            didn't interest Dorothy very much,
           so the little girl
            ran over
                   to a big table
             on which was lying
              open Glinda's Great
                   Book of Records.

    This Book
        is one
               of the greatest treasures