Of course, to be fair to Winsley, you have to judge her ambitious venture into bribery in the light of the cultural context of the times. The frogs of the Turtleback Hills had become so prosperous that money was already having its expected effect in fueling decadence and corruption. Plus, amphibian brains are small enough that greed and opportunism come right after food and sex, and both run well ahead of wisdom.
Increasingly, everything was for sale and if there was an element of genius in this boom period for the Turtleback Hill frogs it was that their money was as fungible as it was waterproof. It was not only popular among other amphibians, but even predators got into acquiring it. Ospreys, in particular, had made a mess of currency, as internecine and fraternal battles about what fish to assign to the various denominations had raged to the point where the birds were more interested in fighting than in having a currency.
A group of them, whose sphere of influence included the Turtleback Hills, decided, for convenience, to go with the frog script. It was well designed, nicely engraved, and had tasteful elements to it, like the way the back of the 50 cent piece used lily pads beneath an overhanging willow. This had transcending advantages for the wealthy frogs like Winsley and Solomon who could afford to book flights on willing Ospreys, and thus travel in minutes to places otherwise beyond their reach with mere frogkicks.
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