“He went fishing about two months ago and hasn’t come back yet,” explained Button-Bright.

“Then I can’t see that he will be of much use to us in this trouble,” sighed little Trot. “But p’raps Ozma, who is a fairy, can get away from the thieves without any help from anybody.”

“She might be able to,” admitted Dorothy, reflectively, “but if she had the power to do that, it isn’t likely she’d have let herself be stolen. So the thieves must have been even more powerful in magic than our Ozma.”

There was no denying this argument and, although they talked the matter over all the rest of that day, they were unable to decide how Ozma had been stolen against her will or who had committed the dreadful deed.

Toward evening the Wizard came back, riding slowly upon the Sawhorse because he felt discouraged and perplexed. Glinda came, later, in her aerial chariot drawn by twenty milk-white swans, and she also seemed worried and unhappy. More of Ozma’s friends joined them and that evening they all had a long talk together.

“I think,” said Dorothy, “we ought to start out right away in search of our dear Ozma. It seems cruel for us to live comf’tably in her palace while she is a pris’ner in the power of some wicked enemy.”

“Yes,” agreed Glinda the Sorceress, “someone ought to search for her. I cannot go myself, because I must work hard in order to create some new instruments of sorcery by means of which I may rescue our fair Ruler. But if you can find her, in the meantime, and let me know who has stolen her, it will enable me to rescue her much more quickly.”

“Then we’ll start tomorrow morning,” decided Dorothy. “Betsy and Trot and I won’t waste another minute.”

“I’m not sure you girls will make good detectives,” remarked the Wizard; “but I’ll go with you, to protect you from harm and to give you my advice. All my wizardry, alas, is stolen, so I am now really no more a wizard than any of you; but I will try to protect you from any enemies you may meet.”

“What harm could happen to us in Oz?” inquired Trot.

“What harm happened to Ozma?” returned the Wizard. “If there is an Evil Power abroad in our fairyland, which is able to steal not only Ozma and her Magic Picture, but Glinda’s Book of Records and all her magic, and my black bag containing all my tricks of wizardry, then that Evil Power may yet cause us considerable injury. Ozma is a fairy, and so is Glinda, so no power can kill or destroy them; but you girls are all mortals, and so are Button-Bright and I, so we must watch out for ourselves.”

“Nothing can kill me,” said Ojo, the Munchkin boy.