In an hour the balloon had come near enough for her to see a basket
suspended below it; in two hours she could see a head looking over the
side of the basket; in three hours the big balloon settled slowly into the
great square in which they stood and came to rest on the glass pavement.

Then a little man jumped out of the basket, took off his tall hat, and
bowed very gracefully to the crowd of Mangaboos around him. He was
quite an old little man and his head was long and entirely bald.

"Why," cried Dorothy, in amazement, "it's Oz!"

The little man looked toward her and seemed as much surprised as she
was. But he smiled and bowed as he answered:

"Yes, my dear; I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Eh? And you are
little Dorothy, from Kansas. I remember you very well."

"Who did you say it was?" whispered Zeb to the girl.

"It's the wonderful Wizard of Oz. Haven't you heard of him?"

Just then the man with the star came and stood before the Wizard.

"Sir," said he, "why are you here, in the Land of the Mangaboos?"

"Didn't know what land it was, my son," returned the other, with a
pleasant smile; "and, to be honest, I didn't mean to visit you when I
started out. I live on top of the earth, your honor, which is far
better than living inside it; but yesterday I went up in a balloon,
and when I came down I fell into a big crack in the earth, caused by