and made a dash at Ozma, but she held her Magic Wand
over his head and the monster recoiled as if it had
been struck.

"You'd better let us go," Dorothy advised him, "for
you see you can't hurt us."

"So I see," returned the Spider King angrily. "Your
magic is greater than mine. But I'll not help you to
escape. If you can break the magic web my people have
woven you may go; if not you must stay here and
starve." With that the Spider King uttered a peculiar
whistle and all the spiders disappeared.

"There is more magic in my fairyland than I dreamed
of," remarked the beautiful Ozma, with a sigh of regret.
"It seems that my laws have not been obeyed, for even
these monstrous spiders defy me by means of Magic."

"Never mind that now," said Dorothy; "let's see what
we can do to get out of this trap."

They now examined the web with great care and were
amazed at its strength. Although finer than the finest
silken hairs, it resisted all their efforts to work
through, even though both girls threw all their weight
against it.

"We must find some instrument which will cut the
threads of the web," said Ozma, finally. "Let us look