Now, when Cayke the Cookie Cook raised such an outcry over the theft of her diamond-studded dishpan, the first thought of the people was to take her to the Frogman and inform him of the loss, thinking that of course he could tell her where to find it.
He listened to the story with his big eyes wide open behind his spectacles, and said in his deep, croaking voice:
"If the dishpan is stolen, somebody must have taken it.""But who?" asked Cayke, anxiously. "Who is the thief?""The one who took the dishpan, of course, replied the Frogman, and hearing this all the Yips nodded their heads gravely and said to one another:
"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 from his chair and strutted up and down the room with his hands under his coat-tails, in a very pompous and imposing manner. This was the first time so difficult a matter had been brought to him and he wanted time to think. It would never do to let them suspect his ignorance and so he thought very, very hard how best to answer the woman without betraying himself.
"I beg to inform you," said he, "that nothing in the Yip Country has ever been stolen before.""We know that, already," answered Cayke the Cookie Cook, impatiently.
"Therefore," continued the Frogman, "this theft becomes a very important matter.""Well, where is my dishpan?" demanded the woman.
"It is lost; but it must be found. Unfortunately, we have no policemen or detectives to unravel the mystery, so we must employ other means to regain the lost article. Cayke must first write a Proclamation and tack it to the door of her house, and the Proclamation must read that whoever stole the jeweled dishpan must return it at once.""But suppose no one returns it," suggested Cayke.
"Then," said the Frogman, "that very fact will be proof that no one has stolen it."Cayke was not satisfied, but the other Yips seemed to approve the plan highly. They all advised her to do as the Frogman had told her to, so she posted the sign on her door and waited patiently for someone to return the dishpan -- which no one ever did.
Again she went, accompanied by a group of her neighbors, to the Frogman, who by this time had given the matter considerable thought. Said he to Cayke:
"I am now convinced that no Yip has taken your dishpan, and, since it is gone from the Yip Country, Isuspect that some stranger came from the world down below us, in the darkness of night when all of us were asleep, and took away your treasure. There can be no other explanation of its disappearance. So, if you wish to recover that golden, diamond-studded dish-pan, you must go into the lower world after it."This was indeed a startling proposition. Cayke and her friends went to the edge of the fiat tableland and looked down the steep hillside to the plains below. It was so far to the bottom of the hill that nothing there could be seen very distinctly and it seemed to the Yips very venturesome, if not dangerous, to go so far from home into an unknown land.
However, Cayke wanted her dishpan very badly, so she turned to her friends and asked:
"Who will go with me?"
No one answered this question, but after a period of silence one of the Yips said:
"We know what is here, on the top of this flat hill, and it seems to us a very pleasant place; but what is down below we do not know. The chances are it is not so pleasant, so we had best stay where we are.
"It may be a far better country than this is,"suggested the Cookie Cook.
"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 when they 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 anxious to find her precious dishpan, but now she exclaimed impatiently:
"You are cowards -- all of you! If none of you are willing to explore with me the great world beyond this small hill, I will surely go alone.""That is a wise resolve," declared the Yips, much relieved. "It is your dishpan that is lost, not ours;and, if you are willing to risk your life and liberty to regain it, no one can deny you the privilege."While they were thus conversing the Frogman joined them and looked down 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 the world. Here in the Yip Country he had become the most important creature of them all and his importance was getting to be a little tame. It would be nice to have other people defer to him and ask his advice and there seemed no reason, so far as he could see, why his fame should not spread throughout all Oz.
He knew nothing of the rest of the world, but it was reasonable to believe that there were more people beyond the mountain where he now lived than there were Yips, and if he went among them he could surprise them with his display of wisdom 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, which was impossible if he always remained upon this mountain. He wanted others 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. So he said to Cayke the Cookie Cook:
