The Unhappy Ferryman
CHAPTER 14
Leaving the grove where they had slept, the Frogman and the Cookie Cookturned to the east to seek another house and after a short walk came toone where the people received them very politely. The children staredrather hard at the big, pompous Frogman, but the woman of the house,when Cayke asked for something to eat, at once brought them food andsaid they were welcome to it.
"Few people in need of help pass this way," she remarked, "for theWinkies are all prosperous and love to stay in their own homes. Butperhaps you are not a Winkle," she added.
"No," said Cayke, "I am a Yip, and my home is on a high mountain at thesoutheast of your country."
"And the Frogman--is he, also, a Yip?"
"I do not know what he is, other than a very remarkable and highlyeducated creature," replied the Cookie Cook. "But he has lived manyyears among the Yips, who have found him so wise and intelligent thatthey always go to him for advice."
"May I ask why you have left your home, and where you are going?" saidthe Winkie woman.
Then Cayke told her of the diamond-studded gold dishpan and how it hadbeen mysteriously stolen from her house, after which she had discoveredthat she could no longer cook good cookies. So she had resolved tosearch until she found her dishpan again, because a Cookie Cook whocannot cook good cookies is not of much use. The Frogman, who wanted tosee more of the world, had accompanied her to assist in the search. Whenthe woman had listened to this story she asked.
"Then you have no idea, as yet, who has stolen your dishpan?"
"I only know it must have been some mischievous fairy, or a magician, orsome such powerful person, because none other could have climbed thesteep mountain to the Yip Country. And who else could have carried awaymy beautiful, magic dishpan without being seen?"
The woman thought about this during the time that Cayke and the Frogmanate their breakfast. When they had finished she said:
"Where are you going next?"
"We have not decided," answered the Cookie Cook.
"Our plan," explained the Frogman, in his important way, "is to travelfrom place to place until we learn where the thief is located, and thento force him to return the dishpan to its proper owner."
"The plan is all right," agreed the woman, "but it may take you a longtime before you succeed, your method being sort of haphazard andindefinite. However, I advise you to travel toward the east."
"Why?" asked the Frogman.
"Because if you went west you would soon come to the desert, and alsobecause in this part of the Winkie Country no one steals, so your timehere would be wasted. But toward the east, beyond the river, live manystrange people whose honesty I would not vouch for. Moreover, if youjourney far enough east and cross the river for a second time, you willcome to the Emerald City, where there is much magic and sorcery. TheEmerald City is ruled by a dear little girl called Ozma, who also rulesthe Emperor of the Winkies and all the Land of Oz. So, as Ozma is afairy, she may be able to tell you just who has taken your preciousdishpan. Provided, of course, you do not find it before you reach her."
"This seems to me to be excellent advice," said the Frogman, and Caykeagreed with him.
"The most sensible thing for you to do," continued the woman, "would beto return to your home and use another dishpan, learning to cook cookiesas other people cook cookies, without the aid of magic. But, if youcannot be happy without the magic dishpan you have lost, you are likelyto learn more about it in the Emerald City than at any other place inOz."
They thanked the good woman and on leaving her house faced the east andcontinued in that direction all the way. Toward evening they came to thewest branch of the Winkie River and there, on the river bank, found aferryman who lived all alone in a little yellow house.
This ferryman was a Winkie with a very small head and a very largebody. He was sitting in his doorway as the travelers approached him anddid not even turn his head to look at them.
"Good evening," said the Frogman.
The ferryman made no reply.
"We would like some supper and the privilege of sleeping in your houseuntil morning," continued the Frogman. "At daybreak we would like somebreakfast and then we would like to have you row us across the river."
The ferryman neither moved nor spoke. He sat in his doorway and lookedstraight ahead.
"I think he must be deaf and dumb," Cayke whispered to her companion.Then she stood directly in front of the ferryman and putting her mouthclose to his ear she yelled as loudly as she could:
"Good evening!"
The ferryman scowled.
"Why do you yell at me, woman?" he asked.
"Can you hear what I say?" she asked in her ordinary tone of voice.
"Of course," replied the man.
"Then why didn't you answer the Frogman?"
"Because," said the ferryman, "I don't understand the frog language."
"He speaks the same words that I do and in the same way," declaredCayke.
"Perhaps," replied the ferryman; "but to me his voice sounded like afrog's croak. I know that in the Land of Oz animals can speak ourlanguage, and so can the birds and bugs and fishes; but in _my_ earsthey sound merely like growls and chirps and croaks."
"Why is that?" asked the Cookie Cook in surprise.
"Once, many years ago, I cut the tail off a fox which had taunted me;and I stole some birds' eggs from a nest to make an omelet with, andalso I pulled a fish from the river and left it lying on the bank togasp for lack of water until it died. I don't know why I did thosewicked things, but I did them. So the Emperor of the Winkies--who is theTin Woodman and has a very tender tin heart--punished me by denying meany communication with beasts, birds or fishes. I cannot understand themwhen they speak to me, although I know that other people can do so, norcan the creatures understand a word I say to them. Every time I meet oneof them I am reminded of my former cruelty, and it makes me veryunhappy."
"Really," said Cayke, "I'm sorry for you, although the Tin Woodman isnot to blame for punishing you."
"What is he mumbling about?" asked the Frogman.
"He is talking to me, but you don't understand him," she replied. Andthen she told him of the ferryman's punishment and afterward explainedto the ferryman that they wanted to stay all night with him and be fed.
He gave them some fruit and bread, which was the only sort of food hehad, and he allowed Cayke to sleep in a room of his cottage. But theFrogman he refused to admit to his house, saying that the frog'spresence made him miserable and unhappy. At no time would he lookdirectly at the Frogman, or even toward him, fearing he would shed tearsif he did so; so the big frog slept on the river bank, where he couldhear little frogs croaking in the river all the night through. But thatdid not keep him awake; it merely soothed him to slumber, for herealized how much superior he was to them.
Just as the sun was rising on a new day the ferryman rowed the twotravelers across the river--keeping his back to the Frogman all theway--and then Cayke thanked him and bade him good-bye and the ferrymanrowed home again.
On this side the river there were no paths at all, so it was evidentthey had reached a part of the country little frequented by travelers.There was a marsh at the south of them, sandhills at the north and agrowth of scrubby underbrush leading toward a forest at the east. So theeast was really the least difficult way to go and that direction was theone they had determined to follow.
Now the Frogman, although he wore green patent-leather shoes with rubybuttons, had very large and flat feet, and when he tramped through thescrub his weight crushed down the underbrush and made a path for Cayketo follow him. Therefore they soon reached the forest, where the talltrees were set far apart but were so leafy that they shaded all thespaces between them with their branches.
"There are no bushes here," said Cayke, much pleased, "so we can nowtravel faster and with more comfort."
The Lost Princess of Oz Page 15
