"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?"

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

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

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

"The plan is all right," agreed the woman, "but it may take you a long
time before you succeed, your method being sort of haphazard and
indefinite. 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 also
because in this part of the Winkie Country no one steals, so your time
here would be wasted. But toward the east, beyond the river, live many
strange people whose honesty I would not vouch for. Moreover, if you
journey far enough east and cross the river for a second time, you will
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 also rules
the Emperor of the Winkies and all the Land