Before they
could scramble up and reach the mouth of the passage it
was too late to stop the two girls.
There was a guard on each side of the stairway, but
of course they did not see Ozma and Dorothy as they
sped past and descended the steps. Then they had to go
up five steps and down another ten, and so on, in the
same manner in which they had climbed to the top of the
mountain. Ozma lighted their way with her wand and they
kept on without relaxing their speed until they reached
the bottom. Then they ran to the right and turned the
corner of the invisible wall just as the Su-dic and his
followers rushed out of the arched entrance and looked
around in an attempt to discover the fugitives.
Ozma now knew they were safe, so she told Dorothy to
stop and both of them sat down on the grass until they
could breathe freely and become rested from their mad
flight.
As for the Su-dic, he realized he was foiled and soon
turned and climbed his stairs again. He was very angry
-- angry with Ozma and angry with himself -- because,
now that he took time to think, he remembered that he
knew very well the art of making people invisible, and
visible again, and if he had only thought of it in time
he could have used his magic knowledge to make the
girls visible and so have captured them easily.
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