The settled parts of the Winkie Country are full of happy andcontented people who are ruled by a tin Emperor named Nick Chopper,who in turn is a subject of the beautiful girl Ruler, Ozma of Oz. Butnot all of the Winkie Country is fully settled. At the east, whichpart lies nearest the Emerald City, there are beautiful farmhouses androads, but as you travel west, you first come to a branch of theWinkie River, beyond which there is a rough country where few peoplelive, and some of these are quite unknown to the rest of the world.After passing through this rude section of territory, which no oneever visits, you would come to still another branch of the WinkieRiver, after crossing which you would find another well-settled partof the Winkie Country extending westward quite to the Deadly Desertthat surrounds all the Land of Oz and separates that favored fairylandfrom the more common outside world. The Winkies who live in this westsection have many tin mines, from which metal they make a great dealof rich jewelry and other articles, all of which are highly esteemedin the Land of Oz because tin is so bright and pretty and there is notso much of it as there is of gold and silver.

Not all the Winkies are miners, however, for some till the fields andgrow grains for food, and it was at one of these far-west Winkie farmsthat the Frogman and Cayke the Cookie Cook first arrived after theyhad descended from the mountain of the Yips. "Goodness me!" criedNellary the Winkie wife when she saw the strange couple approachingher house. "I have seen many queer creatures in the Land of Oz, butnone more queer than this giant frog who dresses like a man and walkson his hind legs. Come here, Wiljon," she called to her husband, whowas eating his breakfast, "and take a look at this astonishing freak."

Wiljon the Winkie came to the door and looked out. He was stillstanding in the doorway when the Frogman approached and said with ahaughty croak, "Tell me, my good man, have you seen a diamond-studdedgold dishpan?"

"No, nor have I seen a copper-plated lobster," replied Wiljon in anequally haughty tone.

The Frogman stared at him and said, "Do not be insolent, fellow!"

"No," added Cayke the Cookie Cook hastily, "you must be very polite tothe great Frogman, for he is the wisest creature in all the world."

"Who says that?" inquired Wiljon.

"He says so himself," replied Cayke, and the Frogman nodded andstrutted up and down, twirling his gold-headed cane very gracefully.

"Does the Scarecrow admit that this overgrown frog is the wisestcreature in the world?" asked Wiljon.

"I do not know who the Scarecrow is," answered Cayke the Cookie Cook.

"Well, he lives at the Emerald City, and he is supposed to have thefinest brains in all Oz. The Wizard gave them to him, you know."

"Mine grew in my head," said the Frogman pompously, "so I think theymust be better than any wizard brains. I am so wise that sometimes mywisdom makes my head ache. I know so much that often I have to forgetpart of it, since no one creature, however great, is able to containso much knowledge."

"It must be dreadful to be stuffed full of wisdom," remarked Wiljonreflectively and eyeing the Frogman with a doubtful look. "It is mygood fortune to know very little."

"I hope, however, you know where my jeweled dishpan is," said theCookie Cook anxiously.

"I do not know even that," returned the Winkie."We have troubleenough in keeping track of our own dishpans without meddling with thedishpans of strangers."

Finding him so ignorant, the Frogman proposed that they walk on andseek Cayke's dishpan elsewhere. Wiljon the Winkie did not seemgreatly impressed by the great Frogman, which seemed to that personageas strange as it was disappointing. But others in this unknown landmight prove more respectful.

"I'd like to meet that Wizard of Oz," remarked Cayke as they walkedalong a path. "If he could give a Scarecrow brains, he might be ableto find my dishpan."

"Poof!" grunted the Frogman scornfully. "I am greater than anywizard. Depend on ME. If your dishpan is anywhere in the world, I amsure to find it."

"If you do not, my heart will be broken," declared the Cookie Cook ina sorrowful voice.

For a while the Frogman walked on in silence. Then he asked, "Why doyou attach so much importance to a dishpan?"

"It is the greatest treasure I possess," replied the woman. "Itbelonged to my mother and to all my grandmothers since the beginningof time. It is, I believe, the very oldest thing in all the YipCountry--or was while it was there--and," she added, dropping hervoice to an awed whisper, "it has magic powers!"

"In what way?" inquired the Frogman, seeming to be surprised at thisstatement.

"Whoever has owned that dishpan has been a good cook, for one thing.No one else is able to make such good cookies as I have cooked, as youand all the Yips know. Yet the very morning after my dishpan wasstolen, I tried to make a batch of cookies and they burned up in theoven! I made another batch that proved too tough to eat, and I was soashamed of them that I buried them in the ground. Even the thirdbatch of cookies, which I brought with me in my basket, were prettypoor stuff and no better than any woman could make who does not own mydiamond-studded gold dishpan. In fact, my good Frogman, Cayke theCookie Cook will never be able to cook good cookies again until hermagic dishpan is restored to her."

"In that case," said the Frogman with a sigh, "I suppose we mustmanage to find it."