L. Frank Baum - Oz 11 - The Lost Pricess of Oz

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THE LOST PRINCESS OF OZ
by L. FRANK BAUM
This Book is Dedicated
To My Granddaughter
OZMA BAUM
To My Readers
Some of my youthful readers are developing wonderful
imaginations. This pleases me. Imagination has brought
mankind through the Dark Ages to its present state of
civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover
America. Imagination led Franklin to discover
electricity. Imagination has given us the steam engine,
the telephone, the talking-machine and the automobile,
for these things had to be dreamed of before they
became realities. So I believe that dreams -- day
dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your
brain-machinery whizzing -- are likely to lead to the
betterment of the world. The imaginative child will
become the imaginative man or woman most apt to create,
to invent, and therefore to foster civilization. A
prominent educator tells me that fairy tales are of
untold value in developing imagination in the young. I
believe it.
Among the letters I receive from children are many
containing suggestions of "what to write about in the
next Oz Book." Some of the ideas advanced are mighty
interesting, while others are too extravagant to be
seriously considered -- even in a fairy tale. Yet I
like them all, and I must admit that the main idea in
"The Lost Princess of Oz" was suggested to me by a
sweet little girl of eleven who called to see me and to
talk about the Land of Oz. Said she: "I s'pose if Ozma
ever got lost, or stolen, ev'rybody in Oz would be
dreadful sorry."
That was all, but quite enough foundation to build
this present story on. If you happen to like the story,
give credit to my little friend's clever hint.
L. Frank Baum
Royal Historian of Oz
1 A Terrible Loss
2 The Troubles of Glinda the Good
3 The Robbery of Cayke the Cookie Cook
4 Among the Winkies
5 Ozma's Friends Are Perplexed
6 The Search Party
7 The Merry-Go-Round Mountains
8 The Mysterious City
9 The High Coco-Lorum of Thi
10 Toto Loses Something
11 Button-Bright Loses Himself
12 The Czarover of Herku
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13 The Truth Pond
14 The Unhappy Ferryman
15 The Big Lavender Bear
16 The Little Pink Bear
17 The Meeting
18 The Conference
19 Ugu the Shoemaker
20 More Surprises
21 Magic Against Magic
22 In the Wicker Castle
23 The Defiance of Ugu the Shoemaker
24 The Little Pink Bear Speaks Truly
25 Ozma of Oz
26 Dorothy Forgives
THE LOST PRINCESS
BY L. FRANK BAUM
CHAPTER 1
A TERRIBLE LOSS
There could be no doubt of the fact: Princess Ozma, the lovely girl
ruler of the Fairyland of Oz, was lost. She had completely
disappeared.Not one of her subjects--not even her closest
friends--knew what had become of her. It was Dorothy who first
discovered it. Dorothy was a little Kansas girl who had come to the
Land of Oz to live and had been given a delightful suite of rooms in
Ozma's royal palace just because Ozma loved Dorothy and wanted her to
live as near her as possible so the two girls might be much together.
Dorothy was not the only girl from the outside world who had been
welcomed to Oz and lived in the royal palace. There was another named
Betsy Bobbin, whose adventures had led her to seek refuge with Ozma,
and still another named Trot, who had been invited, together with her
faithful companion Cap'n Bill, to make her home in this wonderful
fairyland. The three girls all had rooms in the palace and were great
chums; but Dorothy was the dearest friend of their gracious Ruler and
only she at any hour dared to seek Ozma in her royal apartments. For
Dorothy had lived in Oz much longer than the other girls and had been
made a Princess of the realm.
Betsy was a year older than Dorothy and Trot was a year younger, yet
the three were near enough of an age to become great playmates and to
have nice times together. It was while the three were talking
together one morning in Dorothy's room that Betsy proposed they make a
journey into the Munchkin Country, which was one of the four great
countries of the Land of Oz ruled by Ozma. "I've never been there
yet," said Betsy Bobbin, "but the Scarecrow once told me it is the
prettiest country in all Oz."
"I'd like to go, too," added Trot.
"All right," said Dorothy. "I'll go and ask Ozma. Perhaps she will
let us take the Sawhorse and the Red Wagon, which would be much nicer
for us than having to walk all the way. This Land of Oz is a pretty
big place when you get to all the edges of it."
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So she jumped up and went along the halls of the splendid palace until
she came to the royal suite, which filled all the front of the second
floor. In a little waiting room sat Ozma's maid, Jellia Jamb, who was
busily sewing. "Is Ozma up yet?" inquired Dorothy.
"I don't know, my dear," replied Jellia. "I haven't heard a word from
her this morning. She hasn't even called for her bath or her
breakfast, and it is far past her usual time for them."
"That's strange!" exclaimed the little girl.
"Yes," agreed the maid, "but of course no harm could have happened to
her. No one can die or be killed in the Land of Oz, and Ozma is
herself a powerful fairy, and she has no enemies so far as we know.
Therefore I am not at all worried about her, though I must admit her
silence is unusual."
"Perhaps," said Dorothy thoughtfully, "she has overslept. Or she may
be reading or working out some new sort of magic to do good to her
people."
"Any of these things may be true," replied Jellia Jamb, "so I haven't
dared disturb our royal mistress. You, however, are a privileged
character, Princess, and I am sure that Ozma wouldn't mind at all if
you went in to see her."
"Of course not," said Dorothy, and opening the door of the outer
chamber, she went in. All was still here. She walked into another
room, which was Ozma's boudoir, and then, pushing back a heavy drapery
richly broidered with threads of pure gold, the girl entered the
sleeping-room of the fairy Ruler of Oz. The bed of ivory and gold was
vacant; the room was vacant; not a trace of Ozma was to be found.
Very much surprised, yet still with no fear that anything had happened
to her friend, Dorothy returned through the boudoir to the other rooms
of the suite. the bath, the wardrobe, and even into the great throne
room, which adjoined the royal suite, but in none of these places
could she find Ozma.
So she returned to the anteroom where she had left the maid, Jellia
Jamb, and said, "She isn't in her rooms now, so she must have gone
out."
"I don't understand how she could do that without my seeing her,"
replied Jellia, "unless she made herself invisible."
"She isn't there, anyhow," declared Dorothy.
"Then let us go find her," suggested the maid, who appeared to be a
little uneasy. So they went into the corridors, and there Dorothy
almost stumbled over a queer girl who was dancing lightly along the
passage.
"Stop a minute, Scraps!" she called, "Have you seen Ozma this
morning?"
"Not I!" replied the queer girl, dancing nearer."I lost both my eyes
in a tussle with the Woozy last night, for the creature scraped 'em
both off my face with his square paws. So I put the eyes in my
pocket, and this morning Button-Bright led me to Aunt Em, who sewed
'em on again. So I've seen nothing at all today, except during the
last five minutes. So of course I haven't seen Ozma."
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"Very well, Scraps," said Dorothy, looking curiously at the eyes,
which were merely two round, black buttons sewed upon the girl's face.
There were other things about Scraps that would have seemed curious to
one seeing her for the first time. She was commonly called "the
Patchwork Girl" because her body and limbs were made from a
gay-colored patchwork quilt which had been cut into shape and stuffed
with cotton. Her head was a round ball stuffed in the same manner and
fastened to her shoulders. For hair, she had a mass of brown yarn,
and to make a nose for her a part of the cloth had been pulled out
into the shape of a knob and tied with a string to hold it in place.
Her mouth had been carefully made by cutting a slit in the proper
place and lining it with red silk, adding two rows of pearls for teeth
and a bit of red flannel for a tongue.
In spite of this queer make-up, the Patchwork Girl was magically alive
and had proved herself not the least jolly and agreeable of the many
quaint characters who inhabit the astonishing Fairyland of Oz.
Indeed, Scraps was a general favorite, although she was rather flighty
and erratic and did and said many things that surprised her friends.
She was seldom still, but loved to dance, to turn handsprings and
somersaults, to climb trees and to indulge in many other active
sports.
"I'm going to search for Ozma," remarked Dorothy, "for she isn't in
her rooms, and I want to ask her a question."
"I'll go with you," said Scraps, "for my eyes are brighter than yours,
and they can see farther."
"I'm not sure of that," returned Dorothy. "But come along, if you
like."
Together they searched all through the great palace and even to the
farthest limits of the palace grounds, which were quite extensive, but
nowhere could they find a trace of Ozma. When Dorothy returned to
where Betsy and Trot awaited her, the little girl's face was rather
solemn and troubled, for never before had Ozma gone away without
telling her friends where she was going, or without an escort that
befitted her royal state. She was gone, however, and none had seen
her go. Dorothy had met and questioned the Scarecrow, Tik-Tok, the
Shaggy Man, Button-Bright, Cap'n Bill, and even the wise and powerful
Wizard of Oz, but not one of them had seen Ozma since she parted with
her friends the evening before and had gone to her own rooms.
"She didn't say anything las' night about going anywhere," observed
little Trot.
"No, and that's the strange part of it," replied Dorothy. "Usually
Ozma lets us know of everything she does."
"Why not look in the Magic Picture?" suggested Betsy Bobbin. "That
will tell us where she is in just one second."
"Of course!" cried Dorothy. "Why didn't I think of that before?" And
at once the three girls hurried away to Ozma's boudoir, where the
Magic Picture always hung. This wonderful Magic Picture was one of
the royal Ozma's greatest treasures. There was a large gold frame in
the center of which was a bluish-gray canvas on which various scenes
constantly appeared and disappeared. If one who stood before it
wished to see what any person anywhere in the world was doing, it was
only necessary to make the wish and the scene in the Magic Picture
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would shift to the scene where that person was and show exactly what
he or she was then engaged in doing. So the girls knew it would be
easy for them to wish to see Ozma, and from the picture they could
quickly learn where she was.
Dorothy advanced to the place where the picture was usually protected
by thick satin curtains and pulled the draperies aside. Then she
stared in amazement, while her two friends uttered exclamations of
disappointment.
The Magic Picture was gone. Only a blank space on
the wall behind the curtains showed where it had formerly hung.
CHAPTER 2
THE TROUBLES OF GLINDA THE GOOD
That same morning there was great excitement in the castle of the
powerful Sorceress of Oz, Glinda the Good. This castle, situated in
the Quadling Country, far south of the Emerald City where Ozma ruled,
was a splendid structure of exquisite marbles and silver grilles.
Here the Sorceress lived, surrounded by a bevy of the most beautiful
maidens of Oz, gathered from all the four countries of that fairyland
as well as from the magnificent Emerald City itself, which stood in
the place where the four countries cornered. It was considered a
great honor to be allowed to serve the good Sorceress, whose arts of
magic were used only to benefit the Oz people. Glinda was Ozma's most
valued servant, for her knowledge of sorcery was wonderful, and she
could accomplish almost anything that her mistress, the lovely girl
Ruler of Oz, wished her to.
Of all the magical things which surrounded Glinda in her castle, there
was none more marvelous than her Great Book of Records. On the pages
of this Record Book were constantly being inscribed, day by day and
hour by hour, all the important events that happened anywhere in the
known world, and they were inscribed in the book at exactly the moment
the events happened. Every adventure in the Land of Oz and in the big
outside world, and even in places that you and I have never heard of,
were recorded accurately in the Great Book, which never made a mistake
and stated only the exact truth. For that reason, nothing could be
concealed from Glinda the Good, who had only to look at the pages of
the Great Book of Records to know everything that had taken place.
That was one reason she was such a great Sorceress, for the records
made her wiser than any other living person.
This wonderful book was placed upon a big gold table that stood in the
middle of Glinda's drawing room. The legs of the table, which were
incrusted with precious gems, were firmly fastened to the tiled floor,
and the book itself was chained to the table and locked with six stout
golden padlocks, the keys to which Glinda carried on a chain that was
secured around her own neck. The pages of the Great Book were larger
in size than those of an American newspaper, and although they were
exceedingly thin, there were so many of them that they made an
enormous, bulky volume. With its gold cover and gold clasps, the book
was so heavy that three men could scarcely have lifted it. Yet this
morning when Glinda entered her drawing room after breakfast, the good
Sorceress was amazed to discover that her Great Book of Records had
mysteriously disappeared.
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Advancing to the table, she found the chains had been cut with some sharp
instrument, and this must have been done while all in the castle slept.
Glinda was shocked and grieved. Who could have done this wicked, bold thing? And who
could wish to deprive her of her Great Book of Records?
The Sorceress was thoughtful for a time, considering the consequences
of her loss. Then she went to her Room of Magic to prepare a charm
that would tell her who had stolen the Record Book. But when she
unlocked her cupboard and threw open the doors, all of her magical
instruments and rare chemical compounds had been removed from the
shelves. The Sorceress has now both angry and alarmed. She sat down
in a chair and tried to think how this extraordinary robbery could
have taken place. It was evident that the thief was some person of
very great power, or the theft could not have been accomplished
without her knowledge. But who, in all the Land of Oz, was powerful
and skillful enough to do this awful thing? And who, having the
power, could also have an object in defying the wisest and most
talented Sorceress the world has ever known?
Glinda thought over the perplexing matter for a full hour, at the end
of which time she was still puzzled how to explain it. But although
her instruments and chemicals were gone, her KNOWLEDGE of magic had
not been stolen, by any means, since no thief, however skillful, can
rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest
treasure to acquire. Glinda believed that when she had time to gather
more magical herbs and elixirs and to manufacture more magical
instruments, she would be able to discover who the robber was and what
had become of her precious Book of Records.
"Whoever has done this," she said to her maidens, "is a very foolish
person, for in time he is sure to be found out and will then be
severely punished."
She now made a list of the things she needed and dispatched messengers
to every part of Oz with instructions to obtain them and bring them to
her as soon as possible. And one of her messengers met the little
Wizard of Oz, who was seated on the back of the famous live Sawhorse
and was clinging to its neck with both his arms, for the Sawhorse was
speeding to Glinda's castle with the velocity of the wind, bearing the
news that Royal Ozma, Ruler of all the great Land of Oz, had suddenly
disappeared and no one in the Emerald City knew what had become of
her.
"Also," said the Wizard as he stood before the astonished Sorceress,
"Ozma's Magic Picture is gone, so we cannot consult it to discover
where she is. So I came to you for assistance as soon as we realized
our loss. Let us look in the Great Book of Records."
"Alas," returned the Sorceress sorrowfully, "we cannot do that, for
the Great Book of Records has also disappeared!"
CHAPTER 3
OF CAYKE THE COOKIE COOK
One more important theft was reported in the Land of Oz that eventful
morning, but it took place so far from either the Emerald City or the
castle of Glinda the Good that none of those persons we have mentioned
learned of the robbery until long afterward.
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In the far southwestern corner of the Winkie Country is a broad
tableland that can be reached only by climbing a steep hill, whichever
side one approaches it. On the hillside surrounding this tableland
are no paths at all, but there are quantities of bramble bushes with
sharp prickers on them, which prevent any of the Oz people who live
down below from climbing up to see what is on top. But on top live
the Yips, and although the space they occupy is not great in extent,
the wee country is all their own. The Yips had never--up to the time
this story begins--left their broad tableland to go down into the Land
of Oz, nor had the Oz people ever climbed up to the country of the
Yips.
Living all alone as they did, the Yips had queer ways and notions of
their own and did not resemble any other people of the Land of Oz.
Their houses were scattered all over the flat surface; not like a
city, grouped together, but set wherever their owners' fancy dictated,
with fields here, trees there, and odd little paths connecting the
houses one with another. It was here, on the morning when Ozma so
strangely disappeared from the Emerald City, that Cayke the Cookie
Cook discovered that her diamond-studded gold dishpan had been stolen,
and she raised such a hue and cry over her loss and wailed and
shrieked so loudly that many of the Yips gathered around her house to
inquire what was the matter.
It was a serious thing in any part of the Land of Oz to accuse one of
stealing, so when the Yips heard Cayke the Cookie Cook declare that
her jeweled dishpan had been stolen, they were both humiliated and
disturbed and forced Cayke to go with them to the Frogman to see what
could be done about it. I do not suppose you have ever before heard
of the Frogman, for like all other dwellers on that tableland, he had
never been away from it, nor had anyone come up there to see him. The
Frogman was in truth descended from the common frogs of Oz, and when
he was first born he lived in a pool in the Winkie Country and was
much like any other frog. Being of an adventurous nature, however, he
soon hopped out of his pool and began to travel, when a big bird came
along and seized him in its beak and started to fly away with him to
its nest. When high in the air, the frog wriggled so frantically that
he got loose and fell down, down, down into a small hidden pool on the
tableland of the Yips. Now that pool, it seems, was unknown to the
Yips because it was surrounded by thick bushes and was not near to any
dwelling, and it proved to be an enchanted pool, for the frog grew
very fast and very big, feeding on the magic skosh which is found
nowhere else on earth except in that one pool. And the skosh not only
made the frog very big so that when he stood on his hind legs he was
as tall as any Yip in the country, but it made him unusually
intelligent, so that he soon knew more than the Yips did and was able
to reason and to argue very well indeed.
No one could expect a frog with these talents to remain in a hidden
pool, so he finally got out of it and mingled with the people of the
tableland, who were amazed at his appearance and greatly impressed by
his learning. They had never seen a frog before, and the frog had
never seen a Yip before, but as there were plenty of Yips and only one
frog, the frog became the most important. He did not hop any more,
but stood upright on his hind legs and dressed himself in fine clothes
and sat in chairs and did all the things that people do, so he soon
came to be called the Frogman, and that is the only name he has ever
had. After some years had passed, the people came to regard the
Frogman as their adviser in all matters that puzzled them. They
brought all their difficulties to him, and when he did not know
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anything, he pretended to know it, which seemed to answer just as
well. Indeed, the Yips thought the Frogman was much wiser than he
really was, and he allowed them to think so, being very proud of his
position of authority.
There was another pool on the tableland which was not enchanted but
contained good, clear water and was located close to the dwellings.
Here the people built the Frogman a house of his own, close to the
edge of the pool so that he could take a bath or a swim whenever he
wished. He usually swam in the pool in the early morning before
anyone else was up, and during the day he dressed himself in his
beautiful clothes and sat in his house and received the visits of all
the Yips who came to him to ask his advice. The Frogman's usual
costume consisted of knee-breeches made of yellow satin plush, with
trimmings of gold braid and jeweled knee-buckles; a white satin vest
with silver buttons in which were set solitaire rubies; a
swallow-tailed coat of bright yellow; green stockings and red leather
shoes turned up at the toes and having diamond buckles. He wore, when
he walked out, a purple silk hat and carried a gold-headed cane. Over
his eyes he wore great spectacles with gold rims, not because his eyes
were bad, but because the spectacles made him look wise, and so
distinguished and gorgeous was his appearance that all the Yips were
very proud of him.
There was no King or Queen in the Yip Country, so the simple
inhabitants naturally came to look upon the Frogman as their leader as
well as their counselor in all times of emergency. In his heart the
big frog knew he was no wiser than the Yips, but for a frog to know as
much as a person was quite remarkable, and the Frogman was shrewd
enough to make the people believe he was far more wise than he really
was. They never suspected he was a humbug, but listened to his words
with great respect and did just what he advised them to do.
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 would 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
coattails 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."
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"We know that already," answered Cayke the Cookie Cook impatiently.
"Therefore," continued the Frogman, "this theft
becomes a very important matter.""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, I suspect 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 dishpan, 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 flat 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 the 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."
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file:///F|/rah/L.%20Frank%20Baum/Baum,%20L%20Frank%20-%20Oz%2011%20-%20The%20Lost%20Princess%20Of%20Oz.txt
"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, "I will go with you, my good woman,"
which greatly pleased Cayke because she felt the Frogman could be of
much assistance to her in her search.
But now, since the mighty Frogman had decided to undertake the
journey, several of the Yips who were young and daring at once made up
their minds to go along, so the next morning after breakfast the
Frogman and Cayke the Cookie Cook and nine of the Yips started to
slide down the side of the mountain. The bramble bushes and cactus
plants were very prickly and uncomfortable to the touch, so the
Frogman quickly commanded the Yips to go first and break a path, so
that when he followed them he would not tear his splendid clothes.
Cayke, too, was wearing her best dress and was likewise afraid of the
thorns and prickers, so she kept behind the Frogman.
They made rather slow progress and night overtook them before they
were halfway down the mountainside, so they found a cave in which they
sought shelter until morning. Cayke had brought along a basket full
of her famous cookies, so they all had plenty to eat. On the second
day the Yips began to wish they had not embarked on this adventure.
They grumbled a good deal at having to cut away the thorns to make the
path for the Frogman and the Cookie Cook, for their own clothing
suffered many tears, while Cayke and the Frogman traveled safely and
in comfort.
"If it is true that anyone came to our country to steal your diamond
dishpan," said one of the Yips to Cayke, "it must have been a bird,
for no person in the form of a man, woman or child could have climbed
through these bushes and back again."
"And, allowing he could have done so," said another Yip, "the
diamond-studded gold dishpan would not have repaid him for his
troubles and his tribulations."
"For my part," remarked a third Yip, "I would rather go back home and
dig and polish some more diamonds and mine some more gold and make you
another dishpan than be scratched from head to heel by these dreadful
bushes. Even now, if my mother saw me, she would not know I am her
son."
Cayke paid no heed to these mutterings, nor did the Frogman. Although
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file:///F|/rah/L.%20Frank%20Baum/Baum,%20L%20Frank%20-%20Oz%2011%20-%20The%20Lost%20Princess%20Of%20Oz.txtTHELOSTPRINCESSOFOZbyL.FRANKBAUMThisBookisDedicatedToMyGranddaughterOZMABAUMToMyReadersSomeofmyyouthfulreadersaredevelopingwonderfulimaginations.Thispleasesme.Imaginationhasbroughtmankindthroug...

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