"Then--then you did not come here to destroy me at all?" she exclaimed with an unhappy and embarrassed glance at her two prisoners. "Forgive me for using my magic powers, I only wanted to save myself and my foresters from obliteration." "Oh, that's all right." Dorothy dismissed with a careless shrug the danger and discomfort of the last hour. "You thought we were going to destroy you, so, of course, you tried to destroy us first. That was fair enough and I don't blame you, but now that we understand each other better, perhaps you will help us? Do you, yourself, remember Ozma, and is your magic powerful enough to tell us where she is?" Seating herself in a chair near Dorothy's footstool, Gloma stared thoughtfully at the velvet carpet. "I know or remember nothing of the present history of Oz," she told them after a short silence. "At the time the Wizard of Oz ruled Oz I ruled by royal right and inheritance the entire southern part of the Winkie Empire. Although the Wicked Witch of the East claimed dominion over the whole country, she only succeeded in bringing the central and northern parts under her control. We in the South were free, but when word came that a mortal girl had destroyed both the Witch of the East and the Witch of the West, I, being a witch, naturally supposed I would be the next one to suffer destruction. So, calling together the strongest and most faithful of my subjects, I begged them to retire with me to a safe and hidden spot where we could live in safety and tranquillity far from the wars, dangers, and changing fortunes of the times. Many of my Southern Winkies cast their lot with the new order, marching off to the North, but many came with me, and retiring to this hidden forest, we cut ourselves off from all intercourse with the other Kingdoms of Oz, living the free and happy life of foresters and enjoying all the beauty and benefits of outdoor sport and activity. Of the rulers in Oz since the Wizard, I know nothing whatever." "And were you always black?" inquired Pigasus, peering inquisitively up into Gloma's face, and wondering whether the two small black wings on each side of her forehead were as useful as his own. "No," admitted the Queen, smiling graciously down at her plump questioner. "That was part of our disappearing plan, in a dark forest we were so much less likely to be found or discovered, so with my knowledge of the black arts I turned myself and my subjects as black as you now see us." "What a shame! What a pity!" Dorothy jumped up and perched cozily on the arm of the Black Queen's chair. "If you had just come to the Emerald City, we could have been friends all this while."