They had made a chair of their hands and were careful not to hurt her.
"Why do you have to obey the charm of the Golden Cap ?" she asked.
"That is a long story," answered the King, with a Winged laugh; "but as we have a long journey before us, I will pass the time by telling you about it, if you wish." "I shall be glad to hear it," she replied.
"Once," began the leader, "we were a free people, living happily in the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit, and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master.

Perhaps some of us were rather too full of mischief at times, flying down to pull the tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds, and throwing nuts at the people who walked in the forest.

But we were careless and happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the day.

This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule over this land.
"There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess, who was also a powerful sorceress.

All her magic was used to help the people, and she was never known to hurt anyone who was good.