That same morning there was great excitement in the castle of the
powerful Sorceress of Oz, Glinda the Good. This castle, situated in
the Quadling Country, far south of the Emerald City where Ozma ruled,
was a splendid structure of exquisite marbles and silver grilles.
Here the Sorceress lived, surrounded by a bevy of the most beautiful
maidens of Oz, gathered from all the four countries of that fairyland
as well as from the magnificent Emerald City itself, which stood in
the place where the four countries cornered. It was considered a
great honor to be allowed to serve the good Sorceress, whose arts of
magic were used only to benefit the Oz people. Glinda was Ozma's most
valued servant, for her knowledge of sorcery was wonderful, and she
could accomplish almost anything that her mistress, the lovely girl
Ruler of Oz, wished her to.

Of all the magical things which surrounded Glinda in her castle, there
was none more marvelous than her Great Book of Records. On the pages
of this Record Book were constantly being inscribed, day by day and
hour by hour, all the important events that happened anywhere in the
known world, and they were inscribed in the book at exactly the moment
the events happened. Every adventure in the Land of Oz and in the big
outside world, and even in places that you and I have never heard of,
were recorded accurately in the Great Book, which never made a mistake
and stated only the exact truth. For that reason, nothing could be
concealed from Glinda the Good, who had only to look at the pages of
the Great Book of Records to know everything that had taken place.
That was one reason she was such a great Sorceress, for the records
made her wiser than any other living person.

This wonderful book was placed upon a big gold table that stood in the
middle of Glinda's drawing room. The legs of the table, which were