, indeed, that no bear among us has even been there.
But what errand requires you to travel such a distance?"

"Someone has stolen my diamond-studded gold dishpan," explained Cayke,
"and as I cannot be happy without it, I have decided to search the
world over until I find it again. The Frogman, who is very learned and
wonderfully wise, has come with me to give me his assistance. Isn't it
kind of him?"

The King looked at the Frogman.

"What makes you so wonderfully wise?" he asked.

"I'm not," was the candid reply. "The Cookie Cook and some others in
the Yip Country think because I am a big frog and talk and act like a
man that I must be very wise. I have learned more than a frog usually
knows, it is true, but I am not yet so wise as I hope to become at some
future time."

The King nodded, and when he did so, something squeaked in his chest.

"Did Your Majesty speak?" asked Cayke.

"Not just then," answered the Lavender Bear, seeming to be somewhat
embarrassed. "I am so built, you must know, that when anything pushes
against my chest, as my chin accidentally did just then, I make that
silly noise. In this city it isn't considered good manners to notice.
But I like your Frogman. He is honest and truthful, which is more than
can be said of many others. As for your late lamented dishpan, I'll
show it to you."

With this he waved three times the metal wand which he held in his paw,
and instantly there appeared upon the ground midway between the King
and Cayke a big, round pan made of beaten gold. Around the top edge
was a row of small diamonds; around the center of the pan was another
row of larger diamonds; and at the bottom was a row of exceedingly
large and brilliant diamonds. In fact, they all sparkled
magnificently, and the pan was so big and broad that it took a lot of
diamonds to go around it three times.

Cayke stared so hard that her eyes seemed about to pop out of her head.
"O-o-o-h!" she exclaimed, drawing a deep breath of delight.

"Is this your dishpan?" inquired the King.

"It is, it is!" cried the Cookie Cook, and rushing forward, she fell on
her knees and threw her arms around the precious pan. But her arms
came together without meeting any resistance at all. Cayke tried to
seize the edge, but found nothing to grasp. The pan was surely there,
she thought, for she could see it plainly; but it was not solid; she
could not feel it at all. With a moan of astonishment and despair, she
r