"I surely will," responded the Sawhorse, wagging his ears, which were
chips set in his wooden head. "Are you all agreed to accept my
judgment?"
"We are!" they declared, each one hopeful.
"Then," said the Sawhorse, "I must point out to you the fact that you
are all meat creatures, who tire unless they sleep and starve unless
they eat and suffer from thirst unless they drink. Such animals must
be very imperfect, and imperfect creatures cannot be beautiful. Now, I
am made of wood."
"You surely have a wooden head," said the Mule.
"Yes, and a wooden body and wooden legs, which are as swift as the wind
and as tireless. I've heard Dorothy say that 'handsome is as handsome
does,' and I surely perform my duties in a handsome manner. Therefore,
if you wish my honest judgment, I will confess that among us all I am
the most beautiful."
The Mule snorted, and the Woozy laughed; Toto had lost his growl and
could only look scornfully at the Sawhorse, who stood in his place
unmoved. But the Lion stretched himself and yawned, saying quietly,
"Were we all like the Sawhorse, we would all be Sawhorses, which would
be too many of the kind. Were we all like Hank, we would be a herd of
mules; if like Toto, we would be a pack of dogs; should we all become
the shape of the Woozy, he would no longer be remarkable for his
unusual appearance. Finally, were you all like me, I would consider
you so common that I would not care to associate with you. To be
individual, my friends, to be different from others, is the only way to
become distinguished from the common herd. Let us be glad, therefore,
that we differ from one another in form and in disposition. Variety is
the spice of life, and we are various enough to enjoy one another's
society; so let us be content."
"There is some truth in that speech," remarked Toto reflectively. "But
how about my lost growl?"
"The growl is of importance only to you," responded the Lion, "so it is
your business to worry over the loss, not ours. If you love us, do not
afflict your burdens on us; be unhappy all by yourself."
"If the same person stole my growl who stole Ozma," said the little
dog, "I hope we shall find him very soon and punish him as he deserves.
He must be the most cruel person in all the world, for to prevent a dog
from growling when it is his nature to growl is just as wicked, in my
opinion, as stealing all the magic in Oz."
CHAPTER 11
BUTTON-BRIGHT LOSES HIMSELF
The Patchwork Girl, who never slept and who could see very well in the
dark, had wandered among the rocks and bushes all night long, with the
result that she was able to tell some good news the next morning. "Over
the crest of the hill before us," she said, "is a big grove of trees of
many kinds on which all sorts of fruits grow. If you will go there,
you will find a nice breakfast awaiting you." This made them eager to
start, so as soon as the blankets were folded and strapped to the back
of the Sawhorse, they all took their places on the animals and set out
for the big grove Scraps had told them of.
As soon as they got over the brow of the hill, they discovered it to be
a really immense orchard, extending for miles to the right and left of
them. As their way led straight through the trees, they hurried
forward as fast as possible. The first trees they came to bore
quinces, which they did not like. Then there were rows of citron trees
and then crab apples and afterward limes and lemons. But beyond these
they found a grove of big, golden oranges, juicy and sweet, and the
fruit hung low on the branches so they could pluck it easily.
They helped themselves freely and all ate oranges as they continued on
their way. Then, a little farther along, they came to some trees
bearing fine, red apples, which they also feasted on, and the Wizard
stopped here long enough to tie a lot of the apples in one end of a
blanket.
"We do not know what will happen to us after we leave this delightful
orchard," he said, "so I think it wise to carry a supply of apples with
us. We can't starve as long as we have apples, you know."
Scraps wasn't riding the Woozy just now. She loved to climb the trees
and swing herself by the branches from one tree to another. Some of
the choicest fruit was gathered by the Patchwork Girl from the very
highest limbs and tossed down to the others. Suddenly, Trot asked,
"Where's Button-Bright?" and when the others looked for him, they found
the boy had disappeared.
"Dear me!" cried Dorothy. "I guess he's lost again, and that will mean
our waiting here until we can find him."
"It's a good place to wait," suggested Betsy, who had found a plum tree
and was eating some of its fruit.
"How can you wait here and find Button-Bright at one and the same
time?" inquired the Patchwork Girl, hanging by her toes on a limb just
over the heads of the three mortal girls.
"Perhaps he'll come back here," answered Dorothy.
"If he tries that, he'll prob'ly lose his way," said Trot. "I've known
him to do that lots of times. It's losing his way that gets him lost."
"Very true," said the Wizard. "So all the rest of you must stay here
while I go look for the boy."
"Won't YOU get lost, too?" asked Betsy.
"I hope not, my dear."
"Let ME go," said Scraps, dropping lightly to the ground. "I can't get
lost, and I'm more likely to find Button-Bright than any of you."
Without waiting for permission, she darted away through the trees and
soon disappeared from their view.
"Dorothy," said Toto, squatting beside his little mistress, "I've lost
my growl."
"How did that happen?" she asked.
"I don't know," replied Toto. "Yesterday morning the Woozy nearly
stepped on me, and I tried to growl at him and found I couldn't growl a
bit."
"Can you bark?" inquired Dorothy.
"Oh, yes indeed."
"Then never mind the growl," said she.
"But what will I do when I get home to the Glass Cat and the Pink
Kitten?" asked the little dog in an anxious tone.
"They won't mind if you can't growl at them, I'm sure," said Dorothy.
"I'm sorry for you, of course, Toto, for it's just those things we
can't do that we want to do most of all; but before we get back, you
may find your growl again."
"Do you think the person who stole Ozma stole my growl?"
Dorothy smiled.
"Perhaps, Toto."
"Then he's a scoundrel!" cried the little dog.
"Anyone who would steal Ozma is as bad as bad can be," agreed Dorothy,
"and when we remember that our dear friend, the lovely Ruler of Oz, is
lost, we ought not to worry over just a growl."
Toto was not entirely satisfied with this remark, for the more he
thought upon his lost growl, the more important his misfortune became.
When no one was looking, he went away among the trees and tried his
best to growl--even a little bit--but could not manage to do so. All
he could do was bark, and a bark cannot take the place of a growl, so
he sadly returned to the others.
Now Button-Bright had no idea that he was lost at first. He had merely
wandered from tree to tree seeking the finest fruit until he discovered
he was alone in the great orchard. But that didn't worry him just
then, and seeing some apricot trees farther on, he went to them. Then
he discovered some cherry trees; just beyond these were some
tangerines. "We've found 'most ev'ry kind of fruit but peaches," he
said to himself, "so I guess there are peaches here, too, if I can find
the trees."
He searched here and there, paying no attention to his way, until he
found that the trees surrounding him bore only nuts. He put some
walnuts in his pockets and kept on searching, and at last--right among
the nut trees--he came upon one solitary peach tree. It was a
graceful, beautiful tree, but although it was thickly leaved, it bore
no fruit except one large, splendid peach, rosy-cheeked and fuzzy and
just right to eat.
In his heart he doubted this statement, for this was a solitary peach
tree, while all the other fruits grew upon many trees set close to one
another; but that one luscious bite made him unable to resist eating
the rest of it, and soon the peach was all gone except the pit.
Button-Bright was about to throw this peach pit away when he noticed
that it was of pure gold. Of course, this surprised him, but so many
things in the Land of Oz were surprising that he did not give much
thought to the golden peach pit. He put it in his pocket, however, to
show to the girls, and five minutes afterward had forgotten all about
it.
For now he realized that he was far separated from his companions, and
knowing that this would worry them and delay their journey, he began to
shout as loud as he could. His voice did not penetrate very far among
all those trees, and after shouting a dozen times and getting no
answer, he sat down on the ground and said, "Well, I'm lost again. It's
too bad, but I don't see how it can be helped."
As he leaned his back against a tree, he looked up and saw a Bluefinch
fly down from the sky and alight upon a branch just before him. The
bird looked and looked at him. First it looked with one bright eye and
then turned its head and looked at him with the other eye. Then,
fluttering its wings a little, it said, "Oho! So you've eaten the
enchanted peach, have you?"
"Was it enchanted?" asked Button-Bright.
"Of course," replied the Bluefinch. "Ugu the Shoemaker did that."
"But why? And how was it enchanted? And what will happen to one who
eats it?" questioned the boy.
"Ask Ugu the Shoemaker. He knows," said the bird, preening its
feathers with its bill.
"And who is Ugu the Shoemaker?"
"The one who enchanted the peach and placed it here--in the exact
center of the Great Orchard--so no one would ever find it. We birds
didn't dare to eat it; we are too wise for that. But you are
Button-Bright from the Emerald City, and you, YOU, YOU ate the
enchanted peach! You must explain to Ugu the Shoemaker why you did
that."
And then, before the boy could ask any more questions, the bird flew
away and left him alone.
Button-Bright was not much worried to find that the peach he had eaten
was enchanted. It certainly had tasted very good, and his stomach
didn't ache a bit. So again he began to reflect upon the best way to
rejoin his friends. "Whichever direction I follow is likely to be the
wrong one," he said to himself, "so I'd better stay just where I am and
let THEM find ME--if they can."
A White Rabbit came hopping through the orchard and paused a little way
off to look at him. "Don't be afraid," said Button-Bright. "I won't
hurt you."
"Oh, I'm not afraid for myself," returned the White Rabbit. "It's you
I'm worried about."
"Yes, I'm lost," said the boy.
"I fear you are, indeed," answered the Rabbit. "Why on earth did you
eat the enchanted peach?"
The boy looked at the excited little animal thoughtfully. "There were
two reasons," he explained. "One reason was that I like peaches, and
the other reason was that I didn't know it was enchanted."
"That won't save you from Ugu the Shoemaker," declared the White
Rabbit, and it scurried away before the boy could ask any more
questions.
"Rabbits and birds," he thought, "are timid creatures and seem afraid
of this shoemaker, whoever he may be. If there was another peach half
as good as that other, I'd eat it in spite of a dozen enchantments or a
hundred shoemakers!"
Just then, Scraps came dancing along and saw him sitting at the foot of
the tree. "Oh, here you are!" she said. "Up to your old tricks, eh?
Don't you know it's impolite to get lost and keep everybody waiting for
you? Come along, and I'll lead you back to Dorothy and the others."
Button-Bright rose slowly to accompany her.
"That wasn't much of a loss," he said cheerfully. "I haven't been gone
half a day, so there's no harm done."
Dorothy, however, when the boy rejoined the party, gave him a good
scolding. "When we're doing such an important thing as searching for
Ozma," said she, "it's naughty for you to wander away and keep us from
getting on. S'pose she's a pris'ner in a dungeon cell! Do you want to
keep our dear Ozma there any longer than we can help?"
"If she's in a dungeon cell, how are you going to get her out?"
inquired the boy.
"Never you mind. We'll leave that to the Wizard. He's sure to find a
way."
The Wizard said nothing, for he realized that without his magic tools
he could do no more than any other person. But there was no use
reminding his companions of that fact; it might discourage them. "The
important thing just now," he remarked, "is to find Ozma, and as our
party is again happily reunited, I propose we move on."
As they came to the edge of the Great Orchard, the sun was setting and
they knew it would soon be dark. So it was decided to camp under the
trees, as another broad plain was before them. The Wizard spread the
blankets on a bed of soft leaves, and presently all of them except
Scraps and the Sawhorse were fast asleep. Toto snuggled close to his
friend the Lion, and the Woozy snored so loudly that the Patchwork Girl
covered his square head with her apron to deaden the sound.
CHAPTER 12
THE CZAROVER OF HERKU
Trot wakened just as the sun rose, and slipping out of the blankets,
went to the edge of the Great Orchard and looked across the plain.
Something glittered in the far distance. "That looks like another
city," she said half aloud.
"And another city it is," declared Scraps, who had crept to Trot's side
unheard, for her stuffed feet made no sound. "The Sawhorse and I made
a journey in the dark while you were all asleep, and we found over
there a bigger city than Thi. There's a wall around it, too, but it
has gates and plenty of pathways."
"Did you get in?" asked Trot.
"No, for the gates were locked and the wall was a real wall. So we
came back here again. It isn't far to the city. We can reach it in
two hours after you've had your breakfasts."
Trot went back, and finding the other girls now awake, told them what
Scraps had said. So they hurriedly ate some fruit--there were plenty
of plums and fijoas in this part of the orchard--and then they mounted
the animals and set out upon the journey to the strange city. Hank the
Mule had breakfasted on grass, and the Lion had stolen away and found a
breakfast to his liking; he never told what it was, but Dorothy hoped
the little rabbits and the field mice had kept out of his way. She
warned Toto not to chase birds and gave the dog some apple, with which
he was quite content. The Woozy was as fond of fruit as of any other
food except honey, and the Sawhorse never ate at all.
Except for their worry over Ozma, they were all in good spirits as they
proceeded swiftly over the plain. Toto still worried over his lost
growl, but like a wise little dog kept his worry to himself. Before
long, the city grew nearer and they could examine it with interest.
In outward appearance the place was more imposing than Thi, and it was
a square city, with a square, four-sided wall around it, and on each
side was a square gate of burnished copper. Everything about the city
looked solid and substantial; there were no banners flying, and the
towers that rose above the city wall seemed bare of any ornament
whatever.
A path led from the fruit orchard directly to one of the city gates,
showing that the inhabitants preferred fruit to thistles. Our friends
followed this path to the gate, which they found fast shut. But the
Wizard advanced and pounded upon it with his fist, saying in a loud
voice, "Open!"
At once there rose above the great wall a row of immense heads, all of
which looked down at them as if to see who was intruding. The size of
these heads was astonishing, and our friends at once realized that they
belonged to giants who were standing within the city. All had thick,
bushy hair and whiskers, on some the hair being white and on others
black or red or yellow, while the hair of a few was just turning gray,
showing that the giants were of all ages. However fierce the heads
might seem, the eyes were mild in expression, as if the creatures had
been long subdued, and their faces expressed patience rather than
ferocity.
"What's wanted?" asked one old giant in a low, grumbling voice.
"We are strangers, and we wish to enter the city," replied the Wizard.
"Do you come in war or peace?" asked another.
"In peace, of course," retorted the Wizard, and he added impatiently,
"Do we look like an army of conquest?"
"No," said the first giant who had spoken, "you look like innocent
tramps; but you never can tell by appearances. Wait here until we
report to our masters. No one can enter here without the permission of
Vig, the Czarover."
"Who's that?" inquired Dorothy.
But the heads had all bobbed down and disappeared behind the walls, so
there was no answer. They waited a long time before the gate rolled
back with a rumbling sound, and a loud voice cried, "Enter!" But they
lost no time in taking advantage of the invitation.
On either side of the broad street that led into the city from the gate
stood a row of huge giants, twenty of them on a side and all standing
so close together that their elbows touched. They wore uniforms of
blue and yellow and were armed with clubs as big around as treetrunks.
Each giant had around his neck a broad band of gold, riveted on, to
show he was a slave.
As our friends entered riding upon the Lion, the Woozy, the Sawhorse
and the Mule, the giants half turned and walked in two files on either
side of them, as if escorting them on their way. It looked to Dorothy
as if all her party had been made prisoners, for even mounted on their
animals their heads scarcely reached to the knees of the marching
giants. The girls and Button-Bright were anxious to know what sort of
a city they had entered, and what the people were like who had made
these powerful creatures their slaves. Through the legs of the giants
as they walked, Dorothy could see rows of houses on each side of the
street and throngs of people standing on the sidewalks, but the people
were of ordinary size and the only remarkable thing about them was the
fact that they were dreadfully lean and thin. Between their skin and
their bones there seemed to be little or no flesh, and they were mostly
stoop-shouldered and weary looking, even to the little children.
More and more, Dorothy wondered how and why the great giants had ever
submitted to become slaves of such skinny, languid masters, but there
was no chance to question anyone until they arrived at a big palace
located in the heart of the city. Here the giants formed lines to the
entrance and stood still while our friends rode into the courtyard of
the palace. Then the gates closed behind them, and before them was a
skinny little man who bowed low and said in a sad voice, "If you will
be so obliging as to dismount, it will give me pleasure to lead you
into the presence of the World's Most Mighty Ruler, Vig the Czarover."
"I don't believe it!" said Dorothy indignantly.
"What don't you believe?" asked the man.
"I don't believe your Czarover can hold a candle to our Ozma."
"He wouldn't hold a candle under any circumstances, or to any living
person," replied the man very seriously, "for he has slaves to do such
things and the Mighty Vig is too dignified to do anything that others
can do for him. He even obliges a slave to sneeze for him, if ever he
catches cold. However, if you dare to face our powerful ruler, follow
me."
"We dare anything," said the Wizard, "so go ahead."
Through several marble corridors having lofty ceilings they passed,
finding each corridor and doorway guarded by servants. But these
servants of the palace were of the people and not giants, and they were
so thin that they almost resembled skeletons. Finally, they entered a
great circular room with a high, domed ceiling, where the Czarover sat
on a throne cut from a solid block of white marble and decorated with
purple silk hangings and gold tassels.
The ruler of these people was combing his eyebrows when our friends
entered the throne room and stood before him, but he put the comb in
his pocket and examined the strangers with evident curiosity. Then he
said, "Dear me, what a surprise! You have really shocked me. For no
outsider has ever before come to our City of Herku, and I cannot
imagine why you have ventured to do so."
"We are looking for Ozma, the Supreme Ruler of the Land of Oz," replied
the Wizard.
"Do you see her anywhere around here?" asked the Czarover.
"Not yet, Your Majesty, but perhaps you may tell us where she is."
"No, I have my hands full keeping track of my own people. I find them
hard to manage because they are so tremendously strong."
"They don't look very strong," said Dorothy. "It seems as if a good
wind would blow 'em way out of the city if it wasn't for the wall."
"Just so, just so," admitted the Czarover. "They really look that way,
don't they? But you must never trust to appearances, which have a way
of fooling one. Perhaps you noticed that I prevented you from meeting
any of my people. I protected you with my giants while you were on the
way from the gates to my palace so that not a Herku got near you."
"Are your people so dangerous, then?" asked the Wizard.
"To strangers, yes. But only because they are so friendly. For if
they shake hands with you, they are likely to break your arms or crush
your fingers to a jelly."
"Why?" asked Button-Bright.
"Because we are the strongest people in all the world."
"Pshaw!" exclaimed the boy. "That's bragging. You prob'ly don't know
how strong other people are. Why, once I knew a man in Philadelphi'
who could bend iron bars with just his hands!"
"But mercy me, it's no trick to bend iron bars," said His Majesty.
"Tell me, could this man crush a block of stone with his bare hands?"
"No one could do that," declared the boy.
"If I had a block of stone, I'd show you," said the Czarover, looking
around the room. "Ah, here is my throne. The back is too high,
anyhow, so I'll just break off a piece of that." He rose to his feet
and tottered in an uncertain way around the throne. Then he took hold
of the back and broke off a piece of marble over a foot thick. "This,"
said he, coming back to his seat, "is very solid marble and much harder
than ordinary stone. Yet I can crumble it easily with my fingers, a
proof that I am very strong."
Even as he spoke, he began breaking off chunks of marble and crumbling
them as one would a bit of earth. The Wizard was so astonished that he
took a piece in his own hands and tested it, finding it very hard
indeed.
Just then one of the giant servants entered and exclaimed, "Oh, Your
Majesty, the cook has burned the soup! What shall we do?"
"How dare you interrupt me?" asked the Czarover, and grasping the
immense giant by one of his legs, he raised him in the air and threw
him headfirst out of an open window. "Now, tell me," he said, turning
to Button-Bright, "could your man in Philadelphia crumble marble in his
fingers?"
"I guess not," said Button-Bright, much impressed by the skinny
monarch's strength.
"What makes you so strong?" inquired Dorothy.
"It's the zosozo," he explained, "which is an invention of my own. I
and all my people eat zosozo, and it gives us tremendous strength.
Would you like to eat some?"
"No thank you," replied the girl. "I--I don't want to get so thin."
"Well, of course one can't have strength and flesh at the same time,"
said the Czarover. "Zosozo is pure energy, and it's the only compound
of its sort in existence. I never allow our giants to have it, you
know, or they would soon become our masters, since they are bigger that
we; so I keep all the stuff locked up in my private laboratory. Once a
year I feed a teaspoonful of it to each of my people--men, women and
children--so every one of them is nearly as strong as I am. Wouldn't
YOU like a dose, sir?" he asked, turning to the Wizard.
"Well," said the Wizard, "if you would give me a little zosozo in a
bottle, I'd like to take it with me on my travels. It might come in
handy on occasion."
"To be sure. I'll give you enough for six doses," promised the
Czarover.
"But don't take more than a teaspoonful at a time. Once Ugu the
Shoemaker took two teaspoonsful, and it made him so strong that when he
leaned against the city wall, he pushed it over, and we had to build it
up again."
"Who is Ugu the Shoemaker?"
Button-Bright curiously, for he now remembered that the bird and the
rabbit had claimed Ugu the Shoemaker had enchanted the peach he had
eaten.
"Why, Ugu is a great magician who used to live here. But he's gone
away now," replied the Czarover.
"Where has he gone?" asked the Wizard quickly.
"I am told he lives in a wickerwork castle in the mountains to the west
of here. You see, Ugu became such a powerful magician that he didn't
care to live in our city any longer for fear we would discover some of
his secrets. So he went to the mountains and built him a splendid
wicker castle which is so strong that even I and my people could not
batter it down, and there he lives all by himself."
"This is good news," declared the Wizard, "for I think this is just the
magician we are searching for. But why is he called Ugu the Shoemaker?"
"Once he was a very common citizen here and made shoes for a living,"
replied the monarch of Herku. "But he was descended from the greatest
wizard and sorcerer who ever lived in this or in any other country, and
one day Ugu the Shoemaker discovered all the magical books and recipes
of his famous great-grandfather, which had been hidden away in the
attic of his house. So he began to study the papers and books and to
practice magic, and in time he became so skillful that, as I said, he
scorned our city and built a solitary castle for himself."
"Do you think," asked Dorothy anxiously, "that Ugu the Shoemaker would
be wicked enough to steal our Ozma of Oz?"
"And the Magic Picture?" asked Trot.
"And the Great Book of Records of Glinda the Good?" asked Betsy.
"And my own magic tools?" asked the Wizard.
"Well," replied the Czarover, "I won't say that Ugu is wicked, exactly,
but he is very ambitious to become the most powerful magician in the
world, and so I suppose he would not be too proud to steal any magic
things that belonged to anybody else--if he could manage to do so."
"But how about Ozma? Why would he wish to steal HER?" questioned
Dorothy.
"Don't ask me, my dear. Ugu doesn't tell me why he does things, I
assure you."
"Then we must go and ask him ourselves," declared the little girl.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," advised the Czarover, looking first
at the three girls and then at the boy and the little Wizard and
finally at the stuffed Patchwork Girl. "If Ugu has really stolen your
Ozma, he will probably keep her a prisoner, in spite of all your
threats or entreaties. And with all his magical knowledge he would be
a dangerous person to attack. Therefore, if you are wise, you will go
home again and find a new Ruler for the Emerald City and the Land of
Oz. But perhaps it isn't Ugu the Shoemaker who has stolen your Ozma."
"The only way to settle that question," replied the Wizard, "is to go
to Ugu's castle and see if Ozma is there. If she is, we will report
the matter to the great Sorceress Glinda the Good, and I'm pretty sure
she will find a way to rescue our darling ruler from the Shoemaker."
"Well, do as you please," said the Czarover, "but if you are all
transformed into hummingbirds or caterpillars, don't blame me for not
warning you."
They stayed the rest of that day in the City of Herku and were fed at
the royal table of the Czarover and given sleeping rooms in his palace.
The strong monarch treated them very nicely and gave the Wizard a
little golden vial of zosozo to use if ever he or any of his party
wished to acquire great strength.
Even at the last, the Czarover tried to persuade them not to go near
Ugu the Shoemaker, but they were resolved on the venture, and the next
morning bade the friendly monarch a cordial goodbye and, mounting upon
their animals, left the Herkus and the City of Herku and headed for the
mountains that lay to the west.
CHAPTER 13
THE TRUTH POND
It seems a long time since we have heard anything of the Frogman and
Cayke the Cookie Cook, who had left the Yip Country in search of the
diamond-studded dishpan which had been mysteriously stolen the same
night that Ozma had disappeared from the Emerald City. But you must
remember that while the Frogman and the Cookie Cook were preparing to
descend from their mountaintop, and even while on their way to the
farmhouse of Wiljon the Winkie, Dorothy and the Wizard and their
friends were encountering the adventures we have just related.
So it was that on the very morning when the travelers from the Emerald
City bade farewell to the Czarover of the City of Herku, Cayke and the
Frogman awoke in a grove in which they had passed the night sleeping on
beds of leaves. There were plenty of farmhouses in the neighborhood,
but no one seemed to welcome the puffy, haughty Frogman or the little
dried-up Cookie Cook, and so they slept comfortably enough underneath
the trees of the grove. The Frogman wakened first on this morning, and
after going to the tree where Cayke slept and finding her still wrapped
in slumber, he decided to take a little walk and seek some breakfast.
Coming to the edge of the grove, he observed half a mile away a pretty
yellow house that was surrounded by a yellow picket fence, so he walked
toward this house and on entering the yard found a Winkie woman picking
up sticks with which to build a fire to cook her morning meal.
"For goodness sake!" she exclaimed on seeing the Frogman. "What are
you doing out of your frog-pond?"
"I am traveling in search of a jeweled gold dishpan, my good woman," he
replied with an air of great dignity.
"You won't find it here, then," said she. "Our dishpans are tin, and
they're good enough for anybody. So go back to your pond and leave me
alone." She spoke rather crossly and with a lack of respect that
greatly annoyed the Frogman.
"Allow me to tell you, madam," said he, "that although I am a frog, I
am the Greatest and Wisest Frog in all the world. I may add that I
possess much more wisdom than any Winkie--man or woman--in this land.
Wherever I go, people fall on their knees before me and render homage
to the Great Frogman! No one else knows so much as I; no one else is
so grand, so magnificent!"
"If you know so much," she retorted, "why don't you know where your
dishpan is instead of chasing around the country after it?"
"Presently," he answered, "I am going where it is, but just now I am
traveling and have had no breakfast. Therefore I honor you by asking
you for something to eat."
"Oho! The Great Frogman is hungry as any tramp, is he? Then pick up
these sticks and help me to build the fire," said the woman
contemptuously.
"Me! The Great Frogman pick up sticks?" he exclaimed in horror. "In
the Yip Country where I am more honored and powerful than any King
could be, people weep with joy when I ask them to feed me."
"Then that's the place to go for your breakfast," declared the woman.
"I fear you do not realize my importance," urged the Frogman.
"Exceeding wisdom renders me superior to menial duties."
"It's a great wonder to me," remarked the woman, carrying her sticks to
the house, "that your wisdom doesn't inform you that you'll get no
breakfast here." And she went in and slammed the door behind her.
The Frogman felt he had been insulted, so he gave a loud croak of
indignation and turned away. After going a short distance, he came
upon a faint path which led across a meadow in the direction of a grove
of pretty trees, and thinking this circle of evergreens must surround a
house where perhaps he would be kindly received, he decided to follow
the path. And by and by he came to the trees, which were set close
together, and pushing aside some branches he found no house inside the
circle, but instead a very beautiful pond of clear water.
Now the Frogman, although he was so big and well educated and now aped
the ways and customs of human beings, was still a frog. As he gazed at
this solitary, deserted pond, his love for water returned to him with
irresistible force. "If I cannot get a breakfast, I may at least have
a fine swim," said he, and pushing his way between the trees, he
reached the bank. There he took off his fine clothing, laying his
shiny purple hat and his gold-headed cane beside it. A moment later,
he sprang with one leap into the water and dived to the very bottom of
the pond.
The water was deliciously cool and grateful to his thick, rough skin,
and the Frogman swam around the pond several times before he stopped to
rest. Then he floated upon the surface and examined the pond with The
bottom and sides were all lined with glossy tiles of a light pink
color; just one place in the bottom where the water bubbled up from a
hidden spring had been left free. On the banks, the green grass grew
to the edge of the pink tiling. And now, as the Frogman examined the
place, he found that on one side of the pool, just above the water
line, had been set a golden plate on which some words were deeply
engraved. He swam toward this plate, and on reaching it read the
following inscription:
_This is_
THE TRUTH POND
_Whoever bathes in this
water must always
afterward tell_
THE TRUTH.
This statement startled the Frogman. It even worried him, so that he
leaped upon the bank and hurriedly began to dress himself. "A great
misfortune has befallen me," he told himself, "for hereafter I cannot
tell people I am wise, since it is not the truth. The truth is that my
boasted wisdom is all a sham, assumed by me to deceive people and make
them defer to me. In truth, no living creature can know much more than
his fellows, for one may know one thing, and another know another
thing, so that wisdom is evenly scattered throughout the world.
But--ah me!--what a terrible fate will now be mine. Even Cayke the
Cookie Cook will soon discover that my knowledge is no greater than her
own, for having bathed in the enchanted water of the Truth Pond, I can
no longer deceive her or tell a lie."
More humbled than he had been for many years, the Frogman went back to
the grove where he had left Cayke and found the woman now awake and
washing her face in a tiny brook. "Where has Your Honor been?" she
asked.
"To a farmhouse to ask for something to eat," said he, "but the woman
refused me."
"How dreadful!" she exclaimed. "But never mind, there are other houses
where the people will be glad to feed the Wisest Creature in all the
World."
"Do you mean yourself?" he asked.
"No, I mean you."
The Frogman felt strongly impelled to tell the truth, but struggled
hard against it. His reason told him there was no use in letting Cayke
know he was not wise, for then she would lose much respect for him, but
each time he opened his mouth to speak, he realized he was about to
tell the truth and shut it again as quickly as possible. He tried to
talk about something else, but the words necessary to undeceive the
woman would force themselves to his lips in spite of all his struggles.
Finally, knowing that he must either remain dumb or let the truth
prevail, he gave a low groan of despair and said, "Cayke, I am NOT the
Wisest Creature in all the World; I am not wise at all."
"Oh, you must be!" she protested. "You told me so yourself, only last
evening."
"Then last evening I failed to tell you the truth," he admitted,
looking very shamefaced for a frog. "I am sorry I told you this lie,
my good Cayke, but if you must know the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth, I am not really as wise as you are."
The Cookie Cook was greatly shocked to hear this, for it shattered one
of her most pleasing illusions. She looked at the gorgeously dressed
Frogman in amazement. "What has caused you to change your mind so
suddenly?" she inquired.
"I have bathed in the Truth Pond," he said, "and whoever bathes in that
water is ever afterward obliged to tell the truth."
"You were foolish to do that," declared the woman.
"It is often very embarrassing to tell the truth. I'm glad I didn't
bathe in that dreadful water!"
The Frogman looked at his companion thoughtfully. "Cayke," said he, "I
want you to go to the Truth Pond and take a bath in its water. For if
we are to travel together and encounter unknown adventures, it would
not be fair that I alone must always tell you the truth, while you
could tell me whatever you pleased. If we both dip in the enchanted
water, there will be no chance in the future of our deceiving one
another."
"No," she asserted, shaking her head positively, "I won't do it, Your
Honor. For if I told you the truth, I'm sure you wouldn't like me. No
Truth Pond for me. I'll be just as I am, an honest woman who can say
what she wants to without hurting anyone's feelings."
With this decision the Frogman was forced to be content, although he
was sorry the Cookie Cook would not listen to his advice.
CHAPTER 14
THE UNHAPPY FERRYMAN
Leaving the grove where they had slept, the Frogman and the Cookie Cook
turned to the east to seek another house, and after a short walk came
to one where the people received them very politely. The children
stared rather hard at the big, pompous Frogman, but the woman of the
house, when Cayke asked for something to eat, at once brought them food
and said they were welcome to it. "Few people in need of help pass
this way," she remarked, "for the Winkies are all prosperous and love
to stay in their own homes. But perhaps you are not a Winkie," she
added.
"No," said Cayke, "I am a Yip, and my home is on a high mountain at the
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 highly
educated creature," replied the Cookie Cook. "But he has lived many
years among the Yips, who have found him so wise and intelligent that
they always go to him for advice."
"May I ask why you have left your home and where you are going?" said
the Winkie woman.
Then Cayke told her of the diamond-studded gold dishpan and how it had
been mysteriously stolen from her house, after which she had discovered
that she could no longer cook good cookies. So she had resolved to
search until she found her dishpan again, because a Cookie cook 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 assist in 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 climbed the steep mountain to the Yip Country. And who else could have carried away my beautiful magic dishpan without being seen?" |
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