er 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 Country," said he.

"Is that in the Land of Oz?"

"Of course," replied the Frogman.

"And do you know that your Ruler, Ozma of Oz, has been stolen?"

"I was not aware that I had a Ruler, so of course I couldn't know that
she was stolen."

"Well, you have. All the people of Oz," explained Scraps, "are ruled by
Ozma, whether they know it or not. And she has been stolen. Aren't you
angry? Aren't you indignant? Your Ruler, whom you didn't know you had,
has positively been stolen!"

"That is queer," remarked the Frogman thoughtfully. "Stealing is a thing
practically unknown in Oz, yet this Ozma has been taken and a