Leaving the grove where they had slept, the Frogman and the CookieCook turned to the east to seek another house, and after a short walkcame to one where the people received them very politely. Thechildren stared rather hard at the big, pompous Frogman, but the womanof the house, when Cayke asked for something to eat, at once broughtthem food and said they were welcome to it. "Few people in need ofhelp pass this way," she remarked, "for the Winkies are all prosperousand love to stay in their own homes. But perhaps you are not aWinkie," she added.

"No," said Cayke, "I am a Yip, and my home is on a high mountain atthe southeast of your country."

"And the Frogman, is he also a Yip?"

"I do not know what he is, other than a very remarkable and highlyeducated creature," replied the Cookie Cook. "But he has lived manyyears among the Yips, who have found him so wise and intelligent thatthey always go to him for advice."

"May I ask why you have left your home and where you are going?" saidthe Winkie woman.

Then Cayke told her of the diamond-studded gold dishpan and how it hadbeen mysteriously stolen from her house, after which she haddiscovered that she could no longer cook good cookies. So she hadresolved to search until she found her dishpan again, because a Cookiecook who cannot cook good cookies is not of much use. The Frogman,who had wanted to see more of the world, had accompanied her to assistin the search. When the woman had listened to this story, she asked,"Then you have no idea as yet who has stolen your dishpan?"

"I only know it must have been some mischievous fairy, or a magician,or some such powerful person, because none other could have climbedthe steep mountain to the Yip Country. And who else could havecarried away my beautiful magic dishpan without being seen?"

The woman thought about this during the time that Cayke and theFrogman ate their breakfast. When they had finished, she said, "Whereare you going next?"

"We have not decided," answered the Cookie cook.

"Our plan," explained the Frogman in his important way, "is to travelfrom place to place until we learn where the thief is located and thento force him to return the dishpan to its proper owner."

"The plan is all right," agreed the woman, "but it may take you a longtime before you succeed, your method being sort of haphazard andindefinite. However, I advise you to travel toward the east."

"Why?" asked the Frogman.

"Because if you went west, you would soon come to the desert, and alsobecause in this part of the Winkie Country no one steals, so your timehere would be wasted. But toward the east, beyond the river, livemany strange people whose honesty I would not vouch for. Moreover, ifyou journey far enough east and cross the river for a second time, youwill come to the Emerald City, where there is much magic and sorcery.The Emerald City is ruled by a dear little girl called Ozma, who alsorules the Emperor of the Winkies and all the Land of Oz. So, as Ozmais a fairy, she may be able to tell you just who has taken yourprecious dishpan. Provided, of course, you do not find it before youreach her."

."This seems to be to be excellent advice," said the Frogman, and Caykeagreed with him.

."The most sensible thing for you to do," continued the woman, "wouldbe to return to your home and use another dishpan, learn to cookcookies as other people cook cookies, without the aid of magic. Butif you cannot be happy without the magic dishpan you have lost, youare likely to learn more about it in the Emerald City than at anyother place in Oz."

They thanked the good woman, and on leaving her house faced the eastand continued in that direction all the way. Toward evening they cameto the west branch of the Winkie River and there, on the riverbank,found a ferryman who lived all alone in a little yellow house. Thisferryman was a Winkie with a very small head and a very large body.He was sitting in his doorway as the travelers approached him and didnot even turn his head to look at them.

"Good evening," said the Frogman.

The ferryman made no reply.

"We would like some supper and the privilege of sleeping in your houseuntil morning," continued the Frogman. "At daybreak, we would likesome breakfast, and then we would like to have you row us across theriver."

The ferryman neither moved nor spoke. He sat in his doorway andlooked straight ahead. "I think he must be deaf and dumb," Caykewhispered to her companion. Then she stood directly in front of theferryman, and putting her mouth close to his ear, she yelled as loudlyas she could, "Good evening!"

The ferryman scowled.

"Why do you yell at me, woman?" he asked.

"Can you hear what I say?" asked in her ordinary tone of voice.

"Of course," replied the man.

"Then why didn't you answer the Frogman?""Because," said the ferryman, "I don't understand the frog language."

"He speaks the same words that I do and in the same way," declaredCayke.

"Perhaps," replied the ferryman, "but to me his voice sounded like afrog's croak. I know that in the Land of Oz animals can speak ourlanguage, and so can the birds and bugs and fishes; but in MY ears,they sound merely like growls and chirps and croaks."

"Why is that?" asked the Cookie Cook in surprise.

"Once, many years ago, I cut the tail off a fox which had taunted me,and I stole some birds' eggs from a nest to make an omelet with, andalso I pulled a fish from the river and left it lying on the bank togasp for lack of water until it died. I don't know why I did thosewicked things, but I did them. So the Emperor of the Winkies--who isthe Tin Woodman and has a very tender tin heart--punished me bydenying me any communication with beasts, birds or fishes. I cannotunderstand them when they speak to me, although I know that otherpeople can do so, nor can the creatures understand a word I say tothem. Every time I meet one of them, I am reminded of my formercruelty, and it makes me very unhappy."

"Really," said Cayke, "I'm sorry for you, although the Tin Woodman isnot to blame for punishing you."

"What is he mumbling about?" asked the Frogman.

"He is talking to me, but you don't understand him," she replied. Andthen she told him of the ferryman's punishment and afterward explainedto the ferryman that they wanted to stay all night with him and befed. He gave them some fruit and bread, which was the only sort offood he had, and he allowed Cayke to sleep in a room of his cottage.But the Frogman he refused to admit to his house, saying that thefrog's presence made him miserable and unhappy. At no time would hedirectly at the Frogman, or even toward him, fearing he wouldshed tears if he did so; so the big frog slept on the riverbank wherehe could hear little frogs croaking in the river all the nightthrough. But that did not keep him awake; it merely soothed him toslumber, for he realized how much superior he was to them.

Just as the sun was rising on a new day, the ferryman rowed the twotravelers across the river--keeping his back to the Frogman all theway--and then Cayke thanked him and bade him goodbye and the ferrymanrowed home again.

On this side of the river, there were no paths atall, so it was evident they had reached a part of the country littlefrequented by travelers. There was a marsh at the south of them,sandhills at the north, and a growth of scrubby underbrush leadingtoward a forest at the east. So the east was really the leastdifficult way to go, and that direction was the one they haddetermined to follow.

Now the Frogman, although he wore green patent-leather shoes with rubybuttons, had very large and flat feet, and when he tramped through thescrub, his weight crushed down the underbrush and made a path forCayke to follow him. Therefore they soon reached the forest, wherethe tall trees were set far apart but were so leafy that they shadedall the spaces between them with their branches. "There are no busheshere," said Cayke, much pleased, "so we can now travel faster and withmore comfort."