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CHAPTER 17 - THE MEETING

While the Frogman and his party were advancing from the west, Dorothy and

her 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?"

The Lost Princess of Oz