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CHAPTER 19 - UGU THE SHOEMAKER
A curious thing about Ugu the Shoemaker was that he didn't suspect in the
least that he was wicked. He wanted to be powerful and great, and he hoped
to make himself master of all the Land of Oz that he might compel everyone in
that fairy country to obey him, His ambition blinded him to the rights of
others, and he imagined anyone else would act just as he did if anyone else
happened to be as clever as himself.
When he inhabited his little shoemaking shop in the City of Herku, he had
been discontented, for a shoemaker is not looked upon with high respect, and
Ugu knew that his ancestors had been famous magicians for many centuries
past and therefore his family was above the ordinary. Even his father
practiced magic when Ugu was a boy, but his father had wandered away from
Herku and had never come back again. So when Ugu grew up, he was forced
to make shoes for a living, knowing nothing of the magic of his forefathers.
But one day, in searching through the attic of his house, he discovered all the
books of magical recipes and many magical instruments which had formerly
been in use in his family. From that day, he stopped making shoes and began
to study magic. Finally, he aspired to become the greatest magician in Oz, and
for days and weeks and months he thought on a plan to render all the other
sorcerers and wizards, as well as those with fairy powers, helpless to oppose
him.
From the books of his ancestors, he learned the following facts:
(
1) That Ozma of Oz was the fairy ruler of the Emerald City and the Land of Oz
and that she could not be destroyed by any magic ever devised. Also, by
means of her Magic Picture she would be able to discover anyone who
approached her royal palace with the idea of conquering it.
(
2) That Glinda the Good was the most powerful Sorceress in Oz, among her
other magical possessions being the Great Book of Records, which told her all
that happened anywhere in the world. This Book of Records was very
dangerous to Ugu's plans, and Glinda was in the service of Ozma and would
use her arts of sorcery to protect the girl Ruler.
(
3) That the Wizard of Oz, who lived in Ozma's palace, had been taught much
powerful magic by Glinda and had a bag of magic tools with which he might
be able to conquer the Shoemaker.
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