"
They all agreed to that, knowing the Phanfasms to be the mightiest of
the combined forces. King Roquat now invited them to attend a banquet
he had prepared, where they might occupy themselves in eating and
drinking until midnight arrived.
As they had now seen and heard all of the plot against them that
they cared to, Ozma allowed her Magic Picture to fade away.
Then she turned to her friends and said:
"Our enemies will be here sooner than I expected. What do you
advise me to do?"
"It is now too late to assemble our people," said the Tin Woodman,
despondently. "If you had allowed me to arm and drill my Winkies,
we might have put up a good fight and destroyed many of our enemies
before we were conquered."
"The Munchkins are good fighters, too," said Omby Amby; "and so are
the Gillikins."
"But I do not wish to fight," declared Ozma, firmly. "No one has
the right to destroy any living creatures, however evil they may be,
or to hurt them or make them unhappy. I will not fight, even to
save my kingdom."
"The Nome King is not so particular," remarked the Scarecrow. "He
intends to destroy us all and ruin our beautiful country.
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