"One Person and one Freak," said the big Lavender Bear, when he had
carefully examined the strangers.
"I am sorry to hear you call poor Cayke the Cookie Cook a Freak,"
remonstrated the Frogman.
"She is the Person," asserted the King. "Unless I am mistaken, it is you
who are the Freak."
The Frogman was silent, for he could not truthfully deny it.
"Why have you dared intrude in my forest?" demanded the Bear King.
"We didn't know it _was_ your forest," said Cayke, "and we are on our
way to the far east, where the Emerald City is."
"Ah, it's a long way from here to the Emerald City," remarked the King.
"It is so far away, indeed, that no bear among us has ever 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 it.
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-oh!" she exclaimed, drawing a deep breath of delight.
"Is this your dishpan?" inquired the King.
[Illustration]
"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 raised her head
to look at the Bear King, who was watching her actions curiously. Then
she turned to the pan again, only to find it had completely disappeared.
"Poor creature!" murmured the King pityingly. "You must have thought,
for the moment, that you had actually recovered your dishpan. But what
you saw was merely the image of it, conjured up by means of my magic. It
is a pretty dishpan, indeed, though rather big and awkward to handle. I
hope you will some day find it."
Cayke was grievously disappointed. She began to cry, wiping her eyes on
her apron. The King turned to the throng of toy bears surrounding him
and asked:
"Has any of you ever seen this golden dishpan before?"
"No," they answered in a chorus.
The King seemed to reflect. Presently he inquired:
"Where is the Little Pink Bear?"
"At home, Your Majesty," was the reply, "Fetch him here," commanded the
King.
Several of the bears waddled over to one of the trees and pulled from
its hollow a tiny pink bear, smaller than any of the others. A big white
bear carried the pink one in his arms and set it down beside the King,
arranging the joints of its legs so that it would stand upright.
This Pink Bear seemed lifeless until the King turned a crank which
protruded from its side, when the little creature turned its head
stiffly from side to side and said in a small shrill voice:
"Hurrah for the King of Bear Center!"
"Very good," said the big Lavender Bear; "he seems to be working very
well to-day. Tell me, my Pink Pinkerton, what has become of this lady's
jeweled dishpan?"
"U--u--u," said the Pink Bear, and then stopped short.
The King turned the crank again.
"U-g-u the Shoemaker has it," said the Pink Bear.
"Who is Ugu the Shoemaker?" demanded the King, again turning the crank.
"A magician who lives on a mountain in a wickerwork castle," was the
reply.
"Where is this mountain?" was the next question.
"Nineteen miles and three furlongs from Bear Center to the northeast."
"And is the dishpan still at the castle of Ugu the Shoemaker?" asked the
King.
"It is."
The King turned to Cayke.
"You may rely on this information," said he. "The Pink Bear can tell us
anything we wish to know, and his words are always words of truth."
"Is he alive?" asked the Frogman, much interested in the Pink Bear.
"Something animates him--when you turn his crank," replied the King. "I
do not know if it is life, or what it is, or how it happens that the
Little Pink Bear can answer correctly every question put to him. We
discovered his talent a long time ago and whenever we wish to know
anything--which is not very often--we ask the Pink Bear. There is no
doubt whatever, madam, that Ugu the Magician has your dishpan, and if
you dare go to him you may be able to recover it. But of that I am not
certain."
"Can't the Pink Bear tell?" asked Cayke anxiously.
[Illustration]
"No, for that is in the future. He can tell anything that _has_
happened, but nothing that is going to happen. Don't ask me why, for I
don't know."
"Well," said the Cookie Cook, after a little thought, "I mean to go to
this magician, anyhow, and tell him I want my dishpan. I wish I knew
what Ugu the Shoemaker is like."
"Then I'll show him to you," promised the King. "But do not be
frightened; it won't be Ugu, remember, but only his image."
With this he waved his metal wand again and in the circle suddenly
appeared a thin little man, very old and skinny, who was seated on a
wicker stool before a wicker table. On the table lay a Great Book with
gold clasps. The Book was open and the man was reading in it. He wore
great spectacles, which were fastened before his eyes by means of a
ribbon that passed around his head and was tied in a bow at the back.
His hair was very thin and white; his skin, which clung fast to his
bones, was brown and seared with furrows; he had a big, fat nose and
little eyes set close together.
On no account was Ugu the Shoemaker a pleasant person to gaze at. As his
image appeared before them, all were silent and intent until Corporal
Waddle, the Brown Bear, became nervous and pulled the trigger of his
gun. Instantly the cork flew out of the tin barrel with a loud "pop!"
that made them all jump. And, at this sound, the image of the magician
vanished.
"So! _that's_ the thief, is it?" said Cayke, in an angry voice. "I
should think he'd be ashamed of himself for stealing a poor woman's
diamond dishpan! But I mean to face him in his wicker castle and force
him to return my property."
"To me," said the Bear King, reflectively, "he looked like a dangerous
person. I hope he won't be so unkind as to argue the matter with you."
The Frogman was much disturbed by the vision of Ugu the Shoemaker, and
Cayke's determination to go to the magician filled her companion with
misgivings. But he would not break his pledged word to assist the Cookie
Cook and after breathing a deep sigh of resignation he asked the King:
"Will Your Majesty lend us this Pink Bear who answers questions, that we
may take him with us on our journey? He would be very useful to us and
we will promise to bring him safely back to you."
The King did not reply at once; he seemed to be thinking.
[Illustration]
"_Please_ let us take the Pink Bear," begged Cayke. "I'm sure he would
be a great help to us."
"The Pink Bear," said the King, "is the best bit of magic I possess, and
there is not another like him in the world. I do not care to let him out
of my sight; nor do I wish to disappoint you; so I believe I will make
the journey in your company and carry my Pink Bear with me. He can walk,
when you wind the other side of him, but so slowly and awkwardly that he
would delay you. But if I go along I can carry him in my arms, so I will
join your party. Whenever you are ready to start, let me know."
"But--Your Majesty!" exclaimed Corporal Waddle in protest, "I hope you
do not intend to let these prisoners escape without punishment."
"Of what crime do you accuse them?" inquired the King.
"Why, they trespassed on your domain, for one thing," said the Brown
Bear.
"We didn't know it was private property, Your Majesty," said the Cookie
Cook.
"And they asked if any of us had stolen the dishpan!" continued Corporal
Waddle indignantly. "That is the same thing as calling us thieves and
robbers, and bandits and brigands, is it not?"
[Illustration]
"Every person has the right to ask questions," said the Frogman.
"But the Corporal is quite correct," declared the Lavender Bear. "I
condemn you both to death, the execution to take place ten years from
this hour."
"But we belong in the Land of Oz, where no one ever dies," Cayke
reminded him.
"Very true," said the King. "I condemn you to death merely as a matter
of form. It sounds quite terrible, and in ten years we shall have
forgotten all about it. Are you ready to start for the wicker castle of
Ugu the Shoemaker?"
"Quite ready, Your Majesty."
"But who will rule in your place, while you are gone?" asked a big
Yellow Bear.
"I myself will rule while I am gone," was the reply. "A King isn't
required to stay at home forever, and if he takes a notion to travel,
whose business is it but his own? All I ask is that you bears behave
yourselves while I am away. If any of you is naughty, I'll send him to
some girl or boy in America to play with."
This dreadful threat made all the toy bears look 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 "Good-bye till I come back!" and waddled
along the path that led through the forest. The Frogman and Cayke the
Cookie Cook also said good-bye 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.
[Illustration]
The Meeting
[Illustration]