One more important theft was reported in the Land of Oz that eventfulmorning, but it took place so far from either the Emerald City or thecastle of Glinda the Good that none of those persons we have mentionedlearned of the robbery until long afterward.

In the far southwestern corner of the Winkie Country is a broadtableland that can be reached only by climbing a steep hill, whicheverside one approaches it. On the hillside surrounding this tablelandare no paths at all, but there are quantities of bramble bushes withsharp prickers on them, which prevent any of the Oz people who livedown below from climbing up to see what is on top. But on top livethe Yips, and although the space they occupy is not great in extent,the wee country is all their own. The Yips had never--up to the timethis story begins--left their broad tableland to go down into the Landof Oz, nor had the Oz people ever climbed up to the country of theYips.

Living all alone as they did, the Yips had queer ways and notions oftheir own and did not resemble any other people of the Land of Oz.Their houses were scattered all over the flat surface; not like acity, grouped together, but set wherever their owners' fancy dictated,with fields here, trees there, and odd little paths connecting thehouses one with another. It was here, on the morning when Ozma sostrangely disappeared from the Emerald City, that Cayke the CookieCook discovered that her diamond-studded gold dishpan had been stolen,and she raised such a hue and cry over her loss and wailed andshrieked so loudly that many of the Yips gathered around her house toinquire what was the matter.

It was a serious thing in any part of the Land of Oz to accuse one ofstealing, so when the Yips heard Cayke the Cookie Cook declare thather jeweled dishpan had been stolen, they were both humiliated anddisturbed and forced Cayke to go with them to the Frogman to see whatcould be done about it. I do not suppose you have ever before heardof the Frogman, for like all other dwellers on that tableland, he hadnever been away from it, nor had anyone come up there to see him. TheFrogman was in truth descended from the common frogs of Oz, and whenhe was first born he lived in a pool in the Winkie Country and wasmuch like any other frog. Being of an adventurous nature, however, hesoon hopped out of his pool and began to travel, when a big bird camealong and seized him in its beak and started to fly away with him toits nest. When high in the air, the frog wriggled so frantically thathe got loose and fell down, down, down into a small hidden pool on thetableland of the Yips. Now that pool, it seems, was unknown to theYips because it was surrounded by thick bushes and was not near to anydwelling, and it proved to be an enchanted pool, for the frog grewvery fast and very big, feeding on the magic skosh which is foundnowhere else on earth except in that one pool. And the skosh not onlymade the frog very big so that when he stood on his hind legs he wasas tall as any Yip in the country, but it made him unusuallyintelligent, so that he soon knew more than the Yips did and was ableto reason and to argue very well indeed.

No one could expect a frog with these talents to remain in a hiddenpool, so he finally got out of it and mingled with the people of thetableland, who were amazed at his appearance and greatly impressed byhis learning. They had never seen a frog before, and the frog hadnever seen a Yip before, but as there were plenty of Yips and only onefrog, the frog became the most important. He did not hop any more,but stood upright on his hind legs and dressed himself in fine clothesand sat in chairs and did all the things that people do, so he sooncame to be called the Frogman, and that is the only name he has everhad. After some years had passed, the people came to regard theFrogman as their adviser in all matters that puzzled them. Theybrought all their difficulties to him, and when he did not knowanything, he pretended to know it, which seemed to answer just aswell. Indeed, the Yips thought the Frogman was much wiser than hereally was, and he allowed them to think so, being very proud of hisposition of authority.

There was another pool on the tableland which was not enchanted butcontained good, clear water and was located close to the dwellings.Here the people built the Frogman a house of his own, close to theedge of the pool so that he could take a bath or a swim whenever hewished. He usually swam in the pool in the early morning beforeanyone else was up, and during the day he dressed himself in hisbeautiful clothes and sat in his house and received the visits of allthe Yips who came to him to ask his advice. The Frogman's usualcostume consisted of knee-breeches made of yellow satin plush, withtrimmings of gold braid and jeweled knee-buckles; a white satin vestwith silver buttons in which were set solitaire rubies; aswallow-tailed coat of bright yellow; green stockings and red leathershoes turned up at the toes and having diamond buckles. He wore, whenhe walked out, a purple silk hat and carried a gold-headed cane. Overhis eyes he wore great spectacles with gold rims, not because his eyeswere bad, but because the spectacles made him look wise, and sodistinguished and gorgeous was his appearance that all the Yips werevery proud of him.

There was no King or Queen in the Yip Country, so the simpleinhabitants naturally came to look upon the Frogman as their leader aswell as their counselor in all times of emergency. In his heart thebig frog knew he was no wiser than the Yips, but for a frog to know asmuch as a person was quite remarkable, and the Frogman was shrewdenough to make the people believe he was far more wise than he reallywas. They never suspected he was a humbug, but listened to his wordswith great respect and did just what he advised them to do.

Now when Cayke the Cookie Cook raised such an outcry over the theft ofher diamond-studded dishpan, the first thought of the people was totake her to the Frogman and inform him of the loss, thinking that ofcourse he would tell her where to find it. He listened to the storywith his big eyes wide open behind his spectacles, and said in hisdeep, croaking voice, "If the dishpan is stolen, somebody must havetaken it."

"But who?"asked Cayke anxiously. "Who is the thief?"

"The one who took the dishpan, of course," replied the Frogman, andhearing this all the Yips nodded their heads gravely and said to oneanother, "It is absolutely true!"

"But I want my dishpan!" cried Cayke.

"No one can blame you for that wish," remarked the Frogman.

"Then tell me where I may find it," she urged.

The look the Frogman gave her was a very wise look, and he rose fromhis chair and strutted up and down the room with his hands under hiscoattails in a very pompous and imposing manner. This was the firsttime so difficult a matter had been brought to him, and he wanted timeto think. It would never do to let them suspect his ignorance, and sohe thought very, very hard how best to answer the woman withoutbetraying himself. "I beg to inform you," said he, "that nothing inthe Yip Country has ever been stolen before."

"We know that already," answered Cayke the Cookie Cook impatiently.

"Therefore," continued the Frogman, "this theftbecomes a very important matter."

"Therefore," continued the Frogman, "this theft becomes a veryimportant matter."

"Well, where is my dishpan?" demanded the woman.

"It is lost, but it must be found. Unfortunately, we have nopolicemen or detectives to unravel the mystery, so we must employother means to regain the lost article. Cayke must first write aProclamation and tack it to the door of her house, and theProclamation must read that whoever stole the jeweled dishpan mustreturn it at once."

"But suppose no one returns it," suggested Cayke.

"Then," said the Frogman, "that very fact will be proof that no onehas stolen it."

Cayke was not satisfied, but the other Yips seemed to approve the planhighly. They all advised her to do as the Frogman had told her to, soshe posted the sign on her door and waited patiently for someone toreturn the dishpan--which no one ever did. Again she went,accompanied by a group of her neighbors, to the Frogman, who by thistime had given the matter considerable thought. Said he to Cayke, "Iam now convinced that no Yip has taken your dishpan, and since it isgone from the Yip Country, I suspect that some stranger came from theworld down below us in the darkness of night when all of us wereasleep and took away your treasure. There can be no other explanationof its disappearance. So if you wish to recover that golden,diamond-studded dishpan, you must go into the lower world after it."

This was indeed a startling proposition. Cayke and her friends wentto the edge of the flat tableland and looked down the steep hillsideto the plains below. It was so far to the bottom of the hill thatnothing there could be seen very distinctly, and it seemed to the Yipsvery venturesome, if not dangerous, to go so far from home into anunknown land. However, Cayke wanted her dishpan very badly, so sheturned to her friends and asked, "Who will go with me?"

No one answered the question, but after a period of silence one of theYips said, "We know what is here on the top of this flat hill, and itseems to us a very pleasant place, but what is down below we do notknow. The chances are it is not so pleasant, so we had best staywhere we are."

"It may be a far better country than this is," suggested the CookieCook.

"Maybe, maybe," responded another Yip, "but why take chances?Contentment with one's lot is true wisdom.

Perhaps in some other country there are better cookies than you cook, but as we have always eaten your cookies and liked them--except whenthey are burned on the bottom--we do not long for any better ones."

Cayke might have agreed to this argument had she not been so anxiousto find her precious dishpan, but now she exclaimed impatiently, "Youare cowards, all of you! If none of you are willing to explore withme the great world beyond this small hill, I will surely go alone."

"That is a wise resolve," declared the Yips, much relieved. "It isyour dishpan that is lost, not ours. And if you are willing to riskyour life and liberty to regain it, no one can deny you theprivilege."

While they were thus conversing, the Frogman joined them and lookeddown at the plain with his big eyes and seemed unusually thoughtful.In fact, the Frogman was thinking that he'd like to see more of theworld. Here in the Yip Country he had become the most importantcreature of them all, and his importance was getting to be a littletame. It would be nice to have other people defer to him and ask hisadvice, and there seemed no reason so far as he could see why his fameshould not spread throughout all Oz. He knew nothing of the rest ofthe world, but it was reasonable to believe that there were morepeople beyond the mountain where he now lived than there were Yips,and if he went among them he could surprise them with his display ofwisdom and make them bow down to him as the Yips did. In other words,the Frogman was ambitious to become still greater than he was, whichwas impossible if he always remained upon this mountain. He wantedothers to see his gorgeous clothes and listen to his solemn sayings,and here was an excuse for him to get away from the Yip Country. Sohe said to Cayke the Cookie Cook, "I will go with you, my good woman,"which greatly pleased Cayke because she felt the Frogman could be ofmuch assistance to her in her search.

But now, since the mighty Frogman had decided to undertake thejourney, several of the Yips who were young and daring at once made uptheir minds to go along, so the next morning after breakfast theFrogman and Cayke the Cookie Cook and nine of the Yips started toslide down the side of the mountain. The bramble bushes and cactusplants were very prickly and uncomfortable to the touch, so theFrogman quickly commanded the Yips to go first and break a path, sothat when he followed them he would not tear his splendid clothes.Cayke, too, was wearing her best dress and was likewise afraid of thethorns and prickers, so she kept behind the Frogman.

They made rather slow progress and night overtook them before theywere halfway down the mountainside, so they found a cave in which theysought shelter until morning. Cayke had brought along a basket fullof her famous cookies, so they all had plenty to eat. On the secondday the Yips began to wish they had not embarked on this adventure.They grumbled a good deal at having to cut away the thorns to make thepath for the Frogman and the Cookie Cook, for their own clothingsuffered many tears, while Cayke and the Frogman traveled safely andin comfort.

"If it is true that anyone came to our country to steal your diamonddishpan," said one of the Yips to Cayke, "it must have been a bird,for no person in the form of a man, woman or child could have climbedthrough these bushes and back again."

"And, allowing he could have done so," said another Yip, "thediamond-studded gold dishpan would not have repaid him for histroubles and his tribulations."

"For my part," remarked a third Yip, "I would rather go back home anddig and polish some more diamonds and mine some more gold and make youanother dishpan than be scratched from head to heel by these dreadfulbushes. Even now, if my mother saw me, she would not know I am herson."

Cayke paid no heed to these mutterings, nor did the Frogman. Althoughtheir journey was slow, it was being made easy for them by the Yips,so they had nothing to complain of and no desire to turn back. Quitenear to the bottom of the great hill they came upon a great gulf, thesides of which were as smooth as glass. The gulf extended a longdistance--as far as they could see in either direction--and althoughit was not very wide, it was far too wide for the Yips to leap acrossit. And should they fall into it, it was likely they might never getout again. "Here our journey ends," said the Yips. "We must go backagain."

Cayke the Cookie Cook began to weep.

"I shall never find my pretty dishpan again, and my heart will be broken!"she sobbed.

The Frogman went to the edge of the gulf and with his eye carefullymeasured the distance to the other side. "Being a frog," said he, "Ican leap, as all frogs do, and being so big and strong, I am sure Ican leap across this gulf with ease. But the rest of you, not beingfrogs, must return the way you came."

"We will do that with pleasure," cried the Yips, and at once theyturned and began to climb up the steep mountain, feeling they had hadquite enough of this unsatisfactory adventure. Cayke the Cookie Cookdid not go with them, however. She sat on a rock and wept and wailedand was very miserable.

"Well," said the Frogman to her, "I will now bid you goodbye. If Ifind your diamond-decorated gold dishpan, I will promise to see thatit is safely returned to you."

"But I prefer to find it myself!" she said. "See here, Frogman, whycan't you carry me across the gulf when you leap it? You are big andstrong, while I am small and thin."

The Frogman gravely thought over this suggestion. It was a fact thatCayke the Cookie Cook was not a heavy person. Perhaps he could leapthe gulf with her on his back. "If you are willing to risk a fall,"said he, "I will make the attempt."

At once she sprang up and grabbed him around his neck with both herarms. That is, she grabbed him where his neck ought to be, for theFrogman had no neck at all. Then he squatted down, as frogs do whenthey leap, and with his powerful rear legs he made a tremendous jump.Over the gulf they sailed, with the Cookie Cook on his back, and hehad leaped so hard--to make sure of not falling in--that he sailedover a lot of bramble bushes that grew on the other side and landed ina clear space which was so far beyond the gulf that when they lookedback they could not see it at all.

Cayke now got off the Frogman's back and he stood erect again and carefully brushed the dust from his velvet coat and rearranged his whitesatin necktie.

"I had no idea I could leap so far," he said wonderingly. "Leaping isone more accomplishment I can now add to the long list of deeds I amable to perform."

"You are certainly fine at leap-frog," said the Cookie Cookadmiringly, "but, as you say, you are wonderful in many ways. If wemeet with any people down here, I am sure they will consider you thegreatest and grandest of all living creatures."

"Yes," he replied, "I shall probably astonish strangers, because theyhave never before had the pleasure of seeing me. Also, they willmarvel at my great learning. Every time I open my mouth, Cayke, I amliable to say something important."

"That is true," she agreed, "and it is fortunate your mouth is so verywide and opens so far, for otherwise all the wisdom might not be ableto get out of it.""Perhaps nature made it wide for that very reason," said the Frogman."But come, let us now go on, for it is getting late and we must findsome sort of shelter before night overtakes us."