and rearranged his white satin necktie.

“I had no idea I could leap so far,” he said wonderingly.
“Leaping is one more accomplishment I can now add to the
long list of deeds I am able to perform.”

“You are certainly fine at leap-frog,” said the Cookie
Cook admiringly, “but, as you say, you are wonderful in many
ways. If we meet with any people down here, I am sure they
will consider you the greatest and grandest of all living
creatures.”

“Yes,” he replied, “I shall probably astonish strangers,
because they have never before had the pleasure of seeing
me. Also, they will marvel at my great learning. Every
time I open my mouth, Cayke, I am liable to say something
important.”

“That is true,” she agreed, “and it is fortunate your
mouth is so very wide and opens so far, for otherwise all
the wisdom might not be able to get out of it.”

“Perhaps nature made it wide for that very reason,” said
the Frogman. “But come, let us now go on, for it is getting
late and we must find some sort of shelter before night
overtakes us.”
CHAPTER 4

AMONG THE WINKIES

The settled parts of the Winkie Country are full of happy
and contented people who are ruled by a tin Emperor named
Nick Chopper, who in turn is a subject of the beautiful
girl Ruler, Ozma of Oz. But not all of the Winkie Country
is fully settled. At the east, which part lies nearest
the Emerald City, there are beautiful farmhouses and roads,
but as you travel west, you first come to a branch of the
Winkie River, beyond which there is a rough country where
few people live, and some of these are quite unknown to
the rest of the world. After passing through this rude

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