k solemn. They assured
the King in a chorus of growls that they would be good. Then the big
Lavender Bear picked up the little Pink Bear, and after tucking it
carefully under one arm, he said, "Goodbye till I come back!" and
waddled along the path that led through the forest. The Frogman and
Cayke the Cookie Cook also said goodbye to the bears and then followed
after the King, much to the regret of the little Brown Bear, who pulled
the trigger of his gun and popped the cork as a parting salute.

CHAPTER 17

THE MEETING

While the Frogman and his party were advancing from the west, Dorothy
and her party were advancing from the east, and so it happened that on
the following night they all camped at a little hill that was only a
few miles from the wicker castle of Ugu the Shoemaker. But the two
parties did not see one another that night, for one camped on one side
of the hill while the other camped on the opposite side. But the next
morning, the Frogman thought he would climb the hill and see what was
on top of it, and at the same time Scraps, the Patchwork Girl, also
decided to climb the hill to find if the wicker castle was visible from
its top. So she stuck her head over an edge just as the Frogman's head
appeared over another edge, and both, being surprised, kept still while
they took a good look at one another.

Scraps recovered from her astonishment first, and bounding upward, she
turned a somersault and landed sitting down and facing the big Frogman,
who slowly advanced and sat opposite her. "Well met, Stranger!" cried
the Patchwork Girl with a whoop of laughter. "You are quite the
funniest individual I have seen in all my travels."

"Do you suppose I can be any funnier than you?" asked the Frogman,
gazing at her in wonder.

"I'm not funny to myself, you know," returned Scraps. "I wish I were.
And perhaps you are so used to your own absurd shape that you do not
laugh whenever you see your reflection in a pool or in a mirror."

"No," said the Frogman gravely, "I do not. I used to be proud of my
great size and vain of my culture and education, but since I bathed in
the Truth Pond, I sometimes think it is not right that I should be
different from all other frogs."

"Right or wrong," said the Patchwork Girl, "to be different is to be
distinguished. Now in my case, I'm just like all other Patchwork Girls
because I'm the only one there is. But tell me, where did you come
from?"

"The Yip Cou