By the time the Scarecrow had reached the corridor, King Umb, Queen Ra and Toto were nowhere in sight. But the straw man could hear Toto's excited barking. Following in the direction of the sound, down one corridor and up another, the Scarecrow arrived in the wing of the palace usually occupied by Ozma, and found Toto barking before a closed door. The little dog's eyes flashed angrily.
When Toto saw the Scarecrow, he stopped barking and said, "I was just too late. They slammed the door in my face and now I suppose it is locked." The Scarecrow attempted to turn the knob with his stuffed hand and found that, as Toto suspected, the door was locked.
"Do you know what room this is?" Toto asked.
"Of course," replied the Scarecrow, "it's Ozma's Chamber of Magic."
"Yes," went on the little dog, "the same room where the imitation Dorothy and Wizard have shut themselves in all day. Why? I want to know! I tell you, Scarecrow, there's something awfully funny going on here."
The straw man was thoughtful. "I agree with you, Toto. Something is happening that we don't understand. We must find out what it is. I believe the wisest thing we can do is to return to the dining room and hold a council to talk this thing over. Maybe we will be able to find an explanation."
Silently the little dog agreed, and a short time later a group of the best-loved companions of Dorothy and the Wizard was gathered in a living room adjoining the Grand Dining room. The Scarecrow presided over the meeting.
"All we really know," he began, "is that Dorothy and the Wizard have been acting very strangely today—the second day of the absence of Ozma and Glinda. Toto insists that they are not Dorothy and the Wizard at all."
"Lan' sakes!" exclaimed Dorothy's Aunt Em, "I'll admit the child ain't been herself today, but it's down-right silly to say that our Dorothy's someone else. I ought to know my own niece!"
"Em, you're a-gittin' all mixed up," cautioned Uncle Henry. "You jest now said Dorothy ain't been herself today—that means she must be somebody else."