So the Witch consented to effect the
transformation, and preparations for the event were at once made.
Glinda ordered her own royal couch to be placed in the center of the tent.
It was piled high with cushions covered with rose-colored silk, and from a
golden railing above hung many folds of pink gossamer, completely concealing
the interior of the couch.
The first act of the Witch was to make the boy drink a potion which quickly
sent him into a deep and dreamless sleep. Then the Tin Woodman and the
Woggle-Bug bore him gently to the couch, placed him upon the soft cushions,
and drew the gossamer hangings to shut him from all earthly view.
The Witch squatted upon the ground and kindled a tiny fire of dried herbs,
which she drew from her bosom. When the blaze shot up and burned clearly old
Mombi scattered a handful of magical powder over the fire, which straightway
gave off a rich violet vapor, filling all the tent with its fragrance and
forcing the Saw-Horse to sneeze -- although he had been warned to keep
quiet.
274 Full page line-art drawing.
MOMBI AT HER MAGICAL INCANTATIONS.
275
Then, while the others watched her curiously, the hag chanted a rhythmical
verse in words which no one understood, and bent her lean body seven times
back and forth over the fire.
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