So Dorothy summoned her courage and
followed after. Before Ozma had taken three steps she
halted and so forced Dorothy to halt, for the bridge
was again moving and returning to the island.
"We need not walk after all," said Ozma. So they
stood still in their places and let the steel bridge
draw them onward. Indeed, the bridge drew them well
into the glass-domed building which covered the island,
and soon they found themselves standing in a marble
room where two handsomely dressed young men stood on a
platform to receive them.
Ozma at once stepped from the end of the bridge to
the marble platform, followed by Dorothy, and then the
bridge disappeared with a slight clang of steel and a
marble slab covered the opening from which it had
emerged.
The two young men bowed profoundly to Ozma, and one
of them said:
"Queen Coo-ee-oh bids you welcome, O Strangers. Her
Majesty is waiting to receive you in her palace."
"Lead on," replied Ozma with dignity.
But instead of "leading on," the platform of marble
began to rise, carrying them upward through a square
hole above which just fitted it. A moment later they
found themselves within the great glass dome that
covered almost all of the island.
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