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diff --git a/14375-0.txt b/14375-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e046f30 --- /dev/null +++ b/14375-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1958 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14375 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 14375-h.htm or 14375-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/7/14375/14375-h/14375-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/7/14375/14375-h.zip) + + + + + +The Bedtime Story-Books + +THE ADVENTURES OF GRANDFATHER FROG + +by + +THORNTON W. BURGESS + +Author of _The Adventures of Reddy Fox_, _Old Mother West Wind_, etc. + +With Illustrations by HARRISON CADY + +Boston +Little, Brown, and Company + +1920 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "Have a nice nap?" inquired Jerry, with a broad grin. +(Frontispiece)] + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. BILLY MINK FINDS LITTLE JOE OTTER + + II. LONGLEGS THE BLUE HERON RECEIVES CALLERS + + III. LONGLEGS VISITS THE SMILING POOL + + IV. THE PATIENCE OF LONGLEGS THE BLUE HERON + + V. GRANDFATHER FROG JUMPS JUST IN TIME + + VI. LONGLEGS AND WHITETAIL QUARREL + + VII. GRANDFATHER FROG'S BIG MOUTH GETS HIM IN TROUBLE + + VIII. SPOTTY THE TURTLE PLAYS DOCTOR + + IX. OLD MR. TOAD VISITS GRANDFATHER FROG + + X. GRANDFATHER FROG STARTS OUT TO SEE THE GREAT WORLD + + XI. GRANDFATHER FROG IS STUBBORN + + XII. GRANDFATHER FROG KEEPS ON + + XIII. DANNY MEADOW MOUSE FEELS RESPONSIBLE + + XIV. GRANDFATHER FROG HAS A STRANGE RIDE + + XV. GRANDFATHER FROG GIVES UP HOPE + + XVI. THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES WORK HARD + + XVII. STRIPED CHIPMUNK CUTS THE STRING + +XVIII. GRANDFATHER FROG HURRIES AWAY + + XIX. GRANDFATHER FROG JUMPS INTO MORE TROUBLE + + XX. GRANDFATHER FROG LOSES HEART + + XXI. THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES TRY TO COMFORT GRANDFATHER FROG + + XXII. GRANDFATHER FROG'S TROUBLES GROW + +XXIII. THE DEAR OLD SMILING POOL ONCE MORE + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"HAVE A NICE NAP?" INQUIRED JERRY, WITH A BROAD GRIN + +"THANK YOU," SAID LONGLEGS. "I BELIEVE I HAVE AN ERRAND UP THAT WAY" + +AS SOON AS THEY SAW GRANDFATHER FROG, THEY BEGAN TO LAUGH, TOO + +"YOU WON'T SEE MUCH OF THE GREAT WORLD IF YOU JUMP LIKE THAT EVERY +TIME YOU GET A SCARE," SAID DANNY + +HE SEIZED THE OTHER END OF THE STRING AND BEGAN TO PULL + +"THAT'S JUST WHAT I'M AFRAID OF!" CROAKED GRANDFATHER FROG + + + + +THE ADVENTURES OF GRANDFATHER FROG + + + + +I + +BILLY MINK FINDS LITTLE JOE OTTER + + +Billy Mink ran around the edge of the Smiling Pool and turned down by +the Laughing Brook. His eyes twinkled with mischief, and he hurried as +only Billy can. As he passed Jerry Muskrat's house, Jerry saw him. + +"Hi, Billy Mink! Where are you going in such a hurry this fine morning?" +he called. + +"To find Little Joe Otter. Have you seen anything of him?" replied +Billy. + +"No," said Jerry. "He's probably down to the Big River fishing. I heard +him say last night that he was going." + +"Thanks," said Billy Mink, and without waiting to say more he was off +like a little brown flash. + +Jerry watched him out of sight. "Hump!" exclaimed Jerry. "Billy Mink is +in a terrible hurry this morning. Now I wonder what he is so anxious to +find Little Joe Otter for. When they get their heads together, it is +usually for some mischief." + +Jerry climbed to the top of his house and looked over the Smiling Pool +in the direction from which Billy Mink had just come. Almost at once he +saw Grandfather Frog fast asleep on his big green lily-pad. The legs of +a foolish green fly were sticking out of one corner of his big mouth. +Jerry couldn't help laughing, for Grandfather Frog certainly did look +funny. + +"He's had a good breakfast this morning, and his full stomach has made +him sleepy," thought Jerry. "But he's getting careless in his old age. +He certainly is getting careless. The idea of going to sleep right out +in plain sight like that!" + +Suddenly a new thought popped into his head. "Billy Mink saw him, and +that is why he is so anxious to find Little Joe Otter. He is planning to +play some trick on Grandfather Frog as sure as pollywogs have tails!" +exclaimed Jerry. Then his eyes began to twinkle as he added: "I think +I'll have some fun myself." + +Without another word Jerry slipped down into the water and swam over to +the big green lily-pad of Grandfather Frog. Then he hit the water a +smart blow with his tail. Grandfather Frog's big goggly eyes flew open, +and he was just about to make a frightened plunge into the Smiling Pool +when he saw Jerry. + +"Have a nice nap?" inquired Jerry, with a broad grin. + +"I wasn't asleep!" protested Grandfather Frog indignantly. "I was just +thinking." + +"Don't you think it a rather dangerous plan to think so long with your +eyes closed?" asked Jerry. + +"Well, maybe I did just doze off," admitted Grandfather Frog sheepishly. + +"Maybe you did," replied Jerry. "Now listen." Then Jerry whispered in +Grandfather Frog's ear, and both chuckled as if they were enjoying some +joke, for they are great friends, you know. Afterward Jerry swam back to +his house, and Grandfather Frog closed his eyes so as to look just as he +did when he was asleep. + +Meanwhile Billy Mink had hurried down the Laughing Brook. Half-way to +the Big River he met Little Joe Otter bringing home a big fish, for you +know Little Joe is a great fisherman. Billy Mink hastened to tell him +how Grandfather Frog had fallen fast asleep on his big green lily-pad. + +"It's a splendid chance to have some fun with Grandfather Frog and give +him a great scare," concluded Billy. + +Little Joe Otter put his fish down and grinned. He likes to play pranks +almost as well as he likes to go fishing. + +"What can we do?" said he. + +"I've thought of a plan," replied Billy. "Do you happen to know where we +can find Longlegs the Blue Heron?" + +"Yes," said Little Joe. "I saw him fishing not five minutes ago." + +Then Billy told Little Joe his plan, and laughing and giggling, the two +little scamps hurried off to find Longlegs the Blue Heron. + + + + +II + +LONGLEGS THE BLUE HERON RECEIVES CALLERS + + +Longlegs the Blue Heron felt decidedly out of sorts. It was a beautiful +morning, too beautiful for any one to be feeling that way. Indeed, it +was the same beautiful morning in which Grandfather Frog had caught so +many foolish green flies. + +Jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun was smiling his broadest. The Merry Little +Breezes of Old Mother West Wind were dancing happily here and there over +the Green Meadows, looking for some good turn to do for others. The +little feathered people to whom Old Mother Nature has given the great +blessing of music in their throats were pouring out their sweetest +songs. So it seemed as if there was no good reason why Longlegs should +feel out of sorts. The fact is the trouble with Longlegs was an empty +stomach. Yes, Sir, that is what ailed Longlegs the Blue Heron that +sunshiny morning. You know it is hard work to be hungry and happy at the +same time. + +So Longlegs stood on the edge of a shallow little pool in the Laughing +Brook, grumbling to himself. Just a little while before, he had seen +Little Joe Otter carrying home a big fish, and this had made him +hungrier and more out of sorts than ever. In the first place it made him +envious, and envy, you know, always stirs up bad feelings. He knew +perfectly well that Little Joe had got that fish by boldly chasing it +until he caught it, for Little Joe can swim even faster than a fish. But +Longlegs chose to try to make himself think that it was all luck. +Moreover, he wanted to blame some one for his own lack of success, as +most people who fail do. So when Little Joe had called out: "Hi, +Longlegs, what luck this fine morning?" Longlegs just pretended not to +hear. But when Little Joe was out of sight and hearing, he began to +grumble to himself. + +"No wonder I have no luck with that fellow racing up and down the +Laughing Brook," said he. "He isn't content to catch what he wants +himself, but frightens the rest of the fish so that an honest fisherman +like me has no chance at all. I don't see what Old Mother Nature was +thinking of when she gave him a liking for fish. He and Billy Mink are +just two worthless little scamps, born to make trouble for other +people." + +He was still grumbling when these two same little scamps poked their +heads out of the grass on the other side of the little pool. "You look +happy, Longlegs. Must be that you have had a good breakfast," said +Little Joe, nudging Billy Mink. + +Longlegs snapped his great bill angrily. "What are you doing here, +spoiling my fishing?" he demanded. "Haven't you got the Big River and +all the rest of the Laughing Brook to fool around in? This is my pool, +and I'll thank you to keep away!" + +Billy Mink chuckled so that Longlegs heard him, and that didn't improve +his temper a bit. But before he could say anything more, Little Joe +Otter spoke. + +"Oh," said he, "we beg your pardon. We just happen to know that +Grandfather Frog is sound asleep, and we thought that if you hadn't had +good luck this morning, you might like to know about it. As long as you +think so ill of us, we'll just run over and tell Blackcap the Night +Heron." + +Little Joe turned as if to start off in search of Blackcap at once. +"Hold on a minute!" called Longlegs, and tried to make his voice sound +pleasant, a difficult thing to do, because, you know, his voice is very +harsh and disagreeable. "The truth is, I haven't had a mouthful of +breakfast and to be hungry is apt to make me cross. Where did you say +Grandfather Frog is?" + +"I didn't say," replied Little Joe, "but if you really want to know, he +is sitting on his big green lily-pad in the Smiling Pool fast asleep +right in plain sight." + +"Thank you," said Longlegs. "I believe I have an errand up that way, now +I think of it. I believe I'll just go over and have a look at him. I +have never seen him asleep." + +[Illustration: "Thank you," said Longlegs. "I believe I have an errand +up that way." _Page 10_.] + + + + +III + +LONGLEGS VISITS THE SMILING POOL + + +Longlegs the Blue Heron watched Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter +disappear down the Laughing Brook. As long as they were in sight, he sat +without moving, his head drawn down between his shoulders just as if he +had nothing more important to think about than a morning nap. But if you +had been near enough to have seen his keen eyes, you would never have +suspected him of even thinking of a nap. Just as soon as he felt sure +that the two little brown-coated scamps were out of sight, he stretched +his long neck up until he was almost twice as tall as he had been a +minute before. He looked this way and that way to make sure that no +danger was near, spread his great wings, flapped heavily up into the +air, and then, with his head once more tucked back between his shoulders +and his long legs straight out behind him, he flew out over the Green +Meadows, and making a big circle, headed straight for the Smiling Pool. + +All this time Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter had not been so far away +as Longlegs supposed. They had been hiding where they could watch him, +and the instant he spread his wings, they started back up the Laughing +Brook towards the Smiling Pool to see what would happen there. You see +they knew perfectly well that Longlegs was flying up to the Smiling Pool +in the hope that he could catch Grandfather Frog for his breakfast. They +didn't really mean that any harm should come to Grandfather Frog, but +they meant that he should have a great fright. You see, they were like a +great many other people, so heedless and thoughtless that they thought +it fun to frighten others. + +"Of course we'll waken Grandfather Frog in time for him to get away with +nothing more than a great scare," said Little Joe Otter, as they hurried +along. "It will be such fun to see his big goggly eyes pop out when he +opens them and sees Longlegs just ready to gobble him up! And won't +Longlegs be hopping mad when we cheat him out of the breakfast he is so +sure he is going to have!" + +They reached the Smiling Pool before Longlegs, who had taken a +roundabout way, and they hid among the bulrushes where they could see +and not be seen. + +"There's the old fellow just as I left him, fast asleep," whispered +Billy Mink. + +Sure enough, there on his big green lily-pad sat Grandfather Frog with +his eyes shut. At least, they seemed to be shut. And over on top of his +big house sat Jerry Muskrat. Jerry seemed to be too busy opening a +fresh-water clam to notice anything else; but the truth is he was +watching all that was going on. You see, he had suspected that Billy +Mink was going to play some trick on Grandfather Frog, so he had warned +him. When he had seen Longlegs coming towards the Smiling Pool, he had +given Grandfather Frog another warning, and he knew that now he was only +pretending to be asleep. + +Straight up to the Smiling Pool came Longlegs the Blue Heron, and on the +very edge of it, among the bulrushes, he dropped his long legs and stood +with his toes in the water, his long neck stretched up so that he could +look all over the Smiling Pool. There, just as Little Joe Otter had +said, sat Grandfather Frog on his big green lily-pad, fast asleep. At +least, he seemed to be fast asleep. The eyes of Longlegs sparkled with +hunger and the thought of what a splendid breakfast Grandfather Frog +would make. Very slowly, putting each foot down as carefully as he knew +how, Longlegs began to walk along the shore so as to get opposite the +big green lily-pad where Grandfather Frog was sitting. And over in the +bulrushes on the other side, Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink nudged each +other and clapped their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing +aloud. + + + + +IV + +THE PATIENCE OF LONGLEGS THE BLUE HERON + + Patience often wins the day + When over-haste has lost the way. + + +If there is one virtue which Longlegs the Heron possesses above another +it is patience. Yes, Sir, Longlegs certainly has got patience. He +believes that if a thing is worth having, it is worth waiting for, and +that if he waits long enough, he is sure to get it. Perhaps that is +because he has been a fisherman all his life, and his father and his +grandfather were fishermen. You know a fisherman without patience rarely +catches anything. Of course Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter laugh at +this and say that it isn't so, but the truth is they sometimes go +hungry when they wouldn't if they had a little of the patience of +Longlegs. + +Now Grandfather Frog is another who is very, very patient. He can sit +still the longest time waiting for something to come to him. Indeed, he +can sit perfectly still so long, and Longlegs can stand perfectly still +so long, that Jerry Muskrat and Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter have had +many long disputes as to which of the two can keep still the longest. + +"He will make a splendid breakfast," thought Longlegs, as very, very +carefully he walked along the edge of the Smiling Pool so as to get +right opposite Grandfather Frog. There he stopped and looked very hard +at Grandfather Frog. Yes, he certainly must be asleep, for his eyes were +closed. Longlegs chuckled to himself right down inside without making a +sound, and got ready to wade out so as to get within reach. + +Now all the time Grandfather Frog was doing some quiet chuckling +himself. You see, he wasn't asleep at all. He was just pretending to be +asleep, and all the time he was watching Longlegs out of a corner of one +of his big goggly eyes. Very, very slowly and carefully, so as not to +make the teeniest, weeniest sound, Longlegs lifted one foot to wade out +into the Smiling Pool. Grandfather Frog pretended to yawn and opened his +big goggly eyes. Longlegs stood on one foot without moving so much as a +feather. Grandfather Frog yawned again, nodded as if he were too sleepy +to keep awake, and half closed his eyes. Longlegs waited and waited. +Then, little by little, so slowly that if you had been there you would +hardly have seen him move, he drew his long neck down until his head +rested on his shoulders. + +"I guess I must wait until he falls sound asleep again," said Longlegs +to himself. + +But Grandfather Frog didn't go to sleep. He would nod and nod and then, +just when Longlegs would make up his mind that this time he really was +asleep, open would pop Grandfather Frog's eyes. So all the long morning +Longlegs stood on one foot without moving, watching and waiting and +growing hungrier and hungrier, and all the long morning Grandfather Frog +sat on his big green lily-pad, pretending that he was oh, so sleepy, and +all the time having such a comfortable sun-bath and rest, for very early +he had had a good breakfast of foolish green flies. + +Over in the bulrushes on the other side of the Smiling Pool two little +scamps in brown bathing suits waited and watched for the great fright +they had planned for Grandfather Frog, when they had sent Longlegs to +try to catch him. They were Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter. At first +they laughed to themselves and nudged each other at the thought of the +trick they had played. Then, as nothing happened, they began to grow +tired and uneasy. You see they do not possess patience. Finally they +gave up in disgust and stole away to find some more exciting sport. +Grandfather Frog saw them go and chuckled harder than ever to himself. + + + + +V + +GRANDFATHER FROG JUMPS JUST IN TIME + + +Back and forth over the Green Meadows sailed Whitetail the Marsh Hawk. +Like Longlegs the Blue Heron, he was hungry. His sharp eyes peered down +among the grasses, looking for something to eat, but some good fairy +seemed to have warned the very little people who live there that +Whitetail was out hunting. Perhaps it was one of Old Mother West Wind's +children, the Merry Little Breezes. You know they are always flitting +about trying to do some one a good turn. + + They love to dance and romp and play + From dawn to dusk the livelong day, + But more than this they love to find + A chance to do some favor kind. + +Anyway, little Mr. Green Snake seemed to know that Whitetail was out +hunting and managed to keep out of sight. Danny Meadow Mouse wasn't to +be found. Only a few foolish grasshoppers rewarded his patient search, +and these only served to make him feel hungrier than ever. But old +Whitetail has a great deal of persistence, and in spite of his bad luck, +he kept at his hunting, back and forth, back and forth, until he had +been all over the Green Meadows. At last he made up his mind that he was +wasting time there. + +"I'll just have a look over at the Smiling Pool, and if there is nothing +there, I'll take a turn or two along the Big River," thought he and +straightway started for the Smiling Pool. Long before he reached it, his +keen eyes saw Longlegs the Blue Heron standing motionless on the edge of +it, and he knew by the looks of Longlegs that he was watching something +which he hoped to catch. + +"If it's a fish," thought Whitetail, "it will do me no good, for I am no +fisherman. But if it's a Frog--well, Frogs are not as good eating as fat +Meadow Mice, but they are very filling." + +With that he hurried a little faster, and then he saw what Longlegs was +watching so intently. It was, as you know, Grandfather Frog sitting on +his big green lily-pad. Old Whitetail gave a great sigh of satisfaction. +Grandfather Frog certainly would be very filling, very filling, indeed. + +Now Longlegs the Blue Heron was so intently watching Grandfather Frog +that he saw nothing else, and Grandfather Frog was so busy watching +Longlegs that he quite forgot that there might be other dangers. +Besides, his back was toward old Whitetail. Of course Whitetail saw +this, and it made him almost chuckle aloud. Ever so many times he had +tried to catch Grandfather Frog, but always Grandfather Frog had seen +him long before he could get near him. + +Now, with all his keen sight, old Whitetail had failed to see some one +else who was sitting right in plain sight. He had failed because his +mind was so full of Grandfather Frog and Longlegs that he forgot to look +around, as he usually does. Just skimming the tops of the bulrushes he +sailed swiftly out over the Smiling Pool and reached down with his +great, cruel claws to clutch Grandfather Frog, who sat there pretending +to be asleep, but all the time watching Longlegs and deep down inside +chuckling to think how he was fooling Longlegs. + +Slap! That was the tail of Jerry Muskrat hitting the water. Grandfather +Frog knew what that meant--danger! He didn't know what the danger was, +and he didn't wait to find out. There would be time enough for that +later. When Jerry Muskrat slapped the water with his tail that way, +danger was very near indeed. With a frightened "Chugarum!" Grandfather +Frog dived head first into the Smiling Pool, and so close was old +Whitetail that the water was splashed right in his face. He clutched +frantically with his great claws, but all he got was a piece of the big +green lily-pad on which Grandfather Frog had been sitting, and of course +this was of no use for an empty stomach. + +With a scream of disappointment and anger, he whirled in the air and +made straight for Jerry Muskrat. But Jerry just laughed in the most +provoking way and ducked under water. + + + + +VI + +LONGLEGS AND WHITETAIL QUARREL + + "You did!" "I didn't! I didn't!" "You did!" + Such a terrible fuss when Grandfather hid! + + +You see Longlegs the Blue Heron had stood very patiently on one foot all +the long morning waiting for Grandfather Frog to go to sleep on his big +green lily-pad. He had felt sure he was to have Grandfather Frog for his +breakfast and lunch, for he had had no breakfast, and it was now lunch +time. He was so hungry that it seemed to him that the sides of his +stomach certainly would fall in because there was nothing to hold them +up, and then, without any warning at all, old Whitetail the Marsh Hawk +had glided out across the Smiling Pool with his great claws stretched +out to clutch Grandfather Frog, and Grandfather Frog had dived into the +Smiling Pool with a great splash just in the very nick of time. + +Now is there anything in the world so hard on the temper as to lose a +good meal when you are very, very, very hungry? Of course Longlegs +didn't really have that good meal, but he had thought that he was surely +going to have it. So when Grandfather Frog splashed into the Smiling +Pool, of course Longlegs lost his temper altogether. His yellow eyes +seemed to grow even more yellow. + +"You robber! You thief!" he screamed harshly at old Whitetail. + +Now old Whitetail was just as hungry as Longlegs, and he had come even +nearer to catching Grandfather Frog. He is even quicker tempered than +Longlegs. He had whirled like a flash on Jerry Muskrat, but Jerry had +just laughed in the most provoking manner and ducked under water. This +had made old Whitetail angrier than ever, and then to be called bad +names--robber and thief! It was more than any self-respecting Hawk could +stand. Yes, Sir, it certainly was! He fairly shook with rage as he +turned in the air once more and made straight for Longlegs the Blue +Heron. + +"I'm no more robber and thief than you are!" he shrieked. + +"You frightened away my Frog!" screamed Longlegs. + +"I didn't!" + +"You did!" + +"I didn't! It wasn't your Frog; it was mine!" + +"Chugarum!" said Grandfather Frog to Jerry Muskrat, as they peeped out +from under some lily-pads. "I didn't know I belonged to anybody. I +really didn't. Did you?" + +"No," replied Jerry, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he watched +Longlegs and Whitetail, "it's news to me." + +"You're too lazy to hunt like honest people!" taunted old Whitetail, as +he wheeled around Longlegs, watching for a chance to strike with his +great, cruel claws. + +"I'm too honest to take the food out of other people's mouths!" retorted +Longlegs, dancing around so as always to face Whitetail, one of his +great, broad wings held in front of him like a shield, and his long, +strong bill ready to strike. + +Every feather on Whitetail's head was standing erect with rage, and he +looked very fierce and terrible. At last he saw a chance, or thought he +did, and shot down. But all he got was a feather from that great wing +which Longlegs kept in front of him, and before he could get away, that +long bill had struck him twice, so that he screamed with pain. So they +fought and fought, till the ground was covered with feathers, and they +were too tired to fight any longer. Then, slowly and painfully, old +Whitetail flew away over the Green Meadows, and with torn and ragged +wings, Longlegs flew heavily down the Laughing Brook towards the Big +River, and both were sore and stiff and still hungry. + +"Dear me! Dear me! What a terrible thing and how useless anger is," said +Grandfather Frog, as he climbed back on his big green lily-pad in the +warm sunshine. + + + + +VII + +GRANDFATHER FROG'S BIG MOUTH GETS HIM IN TROUBLE + + +Grandfather Frog has a great big mouth. You know that. Everybody does. +His friends of the Smiling Pool, the Laughing Brook, and the Green +Meadows have teased Grandfather Frog a great deal about the size of his +mouth, but he hasn't minded in the least, not the very least. You see, +he learned a long time ago that a big mouth is very handy for catching +foolish green flies, especially when two happen to come along together. +So he is rather proud of his big mouth, just as he is of his goggly +eyes. + +But once in a while his big mouth gets him into trouble. It's a way big +mouths have. It holds so much that it makes him greedy sometimes. He +stuffs it full after his stomach already has all that it can hold, and +then of course he can't swallow. Then Grandfather Frog looks very +foolish and silly and undignified, and everybody calls him a greedy +fellow who is old enough to know better and who ought to be ashamed of +himself. Perhaps he is, but he never says so, and he is almost sure to +do the same thing over again the first chance he has. + +Now it happened that one morning when Grandfather Frog had had a very +good breakfast of foolish green flies and really didn't need another +single thing to eat, who should come along but Little Joe Otter, who had +been down to the Big River fishing. He had eaten all he could hold, and +he was taking the rest of his catch to a secret hiding-place up the +Laughing Brook. + +Now Grandfather Frog is very fond of fish for a change, and when he saw +those that Little Joe Otter had, his eyes glistened, and in spite of his +full stomach his mouth watered. + +"Good morning, Grandfather Frog! Have you had your breakfast yet?" +called Little Joe Otter. + +Grandfather Frog wanted to say no, but he always tells the truth. +"Ye-e-s," he replied. "I've had my breakfast, such as it was. Why do you +ask?" + +"Oh, for no reason in particular. I just thought that if you hadn't, you +might like a fish. But as long as you have breakfasted, of course you +don't want one," said Little Joe, his bright eyes beginning to twinkle. +He held the fish out so that Grandfather Frog could see just how plump +and nice they were. + +"Chugarum!" exclaimed Grandfather Frog. "Those certainly are very nice +fish, very nice fish indeed. It is very nice of you to think of a poor +old fellow like me, and I--er--well, I might find room for just a little +teeny, weeny one, if you can spare it." + +Little Joe Otter knows all about Grandfather Frog's greediness. He +looked at Grandfather Frog's white and yellow waistcoat and saw how it +was already stuffed full to bursting. The twinkle in his eyes grew more +mischievous than ever as he said: "Of course I can. But I wouldn't think +of giving such an old friend a teeny, weeny one." + +With that, Little Joe picked out the biggest fish he had and tossed it +over to Grandfather Frog. It landed close by his nose with a great +splash, and it was almost half as big as Grandfather Frog himself. It +was plump and looked so tempting that Grandfather Frog forgot all about +his full stomach. He even forgot to be polite and thank Little Joe +Otter. He just opened his great mouth and seized the fish. Yes, Sir, +that is just what he did. Almost before you could wink an eye, the fish +had started down Grandfather Frog's throat head first. + +Now you know Grandfather Frog has no teeth, and so he cannot bite things +in two. He has to swallow them whole. That is just what he started to do +with the fish. It went all right until the head reached his stomach. But +you can't put anything more into a thing already full, and Grandfather +Frog's stomach was packed as full as it could be of foolish green flies. +There the fish stuck, and gulp and swallow as hard as he could, +Grandfather Frog couldn't make that fish go a bit farther. Then he tried +to get it out again, but it had gone so far down his throat that he +couldn't get it back. Grandfather Frog began to choke. + + + + +VIII + +SPOTTY THE TURTLE PLAYS DOCTOR + + Greed's a dreadful thing to see, + As everybody will agree. + + +At first Little Joe Otter, sitting on the bank of the Smiling Pool, +laughed himself almost sick as he watched Grandfather Frog trying to +swallow a fish almost as big as himself, when his white and yellow +waistcoat was already stuffed so full of foolish green flies that there +wasn't room for anything more. Such greed would have been disgusting, if +it hadn't been so very, very funny. At least, it was funny at first, for +the fish had stuck, with the tail hanging out of Grandfather Frog's big +mouth. Grandfather Frog hitched this way and hitched that way on his +big green lily-pad, trying his best to swallow. Twice he tumbled off +with a splash into the Smiling Pool. Each time he scrambled back again +and rolled his great goggly eyes in silent appeal to Little Joe Otter to +come to his aid. + +[Illustration: As soon as they saw Grandfather Frog, they began to +laugh, too. _Page 37._] + +But Little Joe was laughing so that he had to hold his sides, and he +didn't understand that Grandfather Frog really was in trouble. Billy +Mink and Jerry Muskrat came along, and as soon as they saw Grandfather +Frog, they began to laugh, too. They just laughed and laughed and +laughed until the tears came. They rolled over and over on the bank and +kicked their heels from sheer enjoyment. It was the funniest thing they +had seen for a long, long time. + +"Did you ever see such greed?" gasped Billy Mink. + +"Why don't you pull it out and start over again?" shouted Little Joe +Otter. + +Now this is just what Grandfather Frog was trying to do. At least, he +was trying to pull the fish out. He hadn't the least desire in the world +to try swallowing it again. In fact, he felt just then as if he never, +never wanted to see another fish so long as he lived. But Grandfather +Frog's hands are not made for grasping slippery things, and the tail of +a fish is very slippery indeed. He tried first with one hand, then with +the other, and at last with both. It was of no use at all. He just +couldn't budge that fish. He couldn't cough it up, because it had gone +too far down for that. The more he clawed at that waving tail with his +hands, the funnier he looked, and the harder Little Joe Otter and Billy +Mink and Jerry Muskrat laughed. They made such a noise that Spotty the +Turtle, who had been taking a sun-bath on the end of an old log, slipped +into the water and started to see what it was all about. + +Now Spotty the Turtle is very, very slow on land, but he is a good +swimmer. He hurried now because he didn't want to miss the fun. At first +he didn't see Grandfather Frog. + +"What's the joke?" he asked. + +Little Joe Otter simply pointed to Grandfather Frog. Little Joe had +laughed so much that he couldn't even speak. Spotty looked over to the +big green lily-pad and started to laugh too. Then he saw great tears +rolling down from Grandfather Frog's eyes and heard little choky sounds. +He stopped laughing and started for Grandfather Frog as fast as he could +swim. He climbed right up on the big green lily-pad, and reaching out, +grabbed the end of the fish tail in his beak-like mouth. Then Spotty +the Turtle settled back and pulled, and Grandfather Frog settled back +and pulled. Splash! Grandfather Frog had fallen backward into the +Smiling Pool on one side of the big green lily-pad. Splash! Spotty the +Turtle had fallen backward into the Smiling Pool on the opposite side of +the big green lily-pad. And the fish which had caused all the trouble +lay floating on the water. + +"Thank you! Thank you!" gasped Grandfather Frog, as he feebly crawled +back on the lily-pad. "A minute more, and I would have choked to death." + +"Don't mention it," replied Spotty the Turtle. + +"I never, never will," promised Grandfather Frog. + + + + +IX + +OLD MR. TOAD VISITS GRANDFATHER FROG + + +Grandfather Frog and old Mr. Toad are cousins. Of course you know that +without being told. Everybody does. But not everybody knows that they +were born in the same place. They were. Yes, Sir, they were. They were +born in the Smiling Pool. Both had long tails and for a while no legs, +and they played and swam together without ever going on shore. In fact, +when they were babies, they couldn't live out of the water. And people +who saw them didn't know the difference between them and called them by +the same names--tadpoles or pollywogs. But when they grew old enough to +have legs and get along without tails, they parted company. + +You see, it was this way: Grandfather Frog (of course he wasn't +grandfather then) loved the Smiling Pool so well that he couldn't think +of leaving it. He heard all about the Great World and what a wonderful +place it was, but he couldn't and wouldn't believe that there could be +any nicer place than the Smiling Pool, and so he made up his mind that +he would live there always. + +But Mr. Toad could hardly wait to get rid of his tail before turning his +back on the Smiling Pool and starting out to see the Great World. +Nothing that Grandfather Frog could say would stop him, and away Mr. +Toad went, when he was so small that he could hide under a clover leaf. +Grandfather Frog didn't expect ever to see him again. But he did, +though it wasn't for a long, long time. And when he did come back, he +had grown so that Grandfather Frog hardly knew him at first. And right +then and there began a dispute which they have kept up ever since: +whether it was best to go out into the Great World or remain in the home +of childhood. Each was sure that what he had done was best, and each is +sure of it to this day. + +So whenever old Mr. Toad visits Grandfather Frog, as he does every once +in a while, they are sure to argue and argue on this same old subject. +It was so on the day that Grandfather Frog had so nearly choked to +death. Old Mr. Toad had heard about it from one of the Merry Little +Breezes of Old Mother West Wind and right away had started for the +Smiling Pool to pay his respects to Grandfather Frog, and to tell him +how glad he was that Spotty the Turtle had come along just in time to +pull the fish out of Grandfather Frog's throat. + +Now all day long Grandfather Frog had had to listen to unpleasant +remarks about his greediness. It was such a splendid chance to tease him +that everybody around the Smiling Pool took advantage of it. Grandfather +Frog took it good-naturedly at first, but after a while it made him +cross, and by the time his cousin, old Mr. Toad, arrived, he was sulky +and just grunted when Mr. Toad told him how glad he was to find +Grandfather Frog quite recovered. + +Old Mr. Toad pretended not to notice how out of sorts Grandfather Frog +was but kept right on talking. + +"If you had been out in the Great World as much as I have been, you +would have known that Little Joe Otter wasn't giving you that fish for +nothing," said he. + +Grandfather Frog swelled right out with anger. "Chugarum!" he exclaimed +in his deepest, gruffest voice. "Chugarum! Go back to your Great World +and learn to mind your own affairs, Mr. Toad." + +Right away old Mr. Toad began to swell with anger too. For a whole +minute he glared at Grandfather Frog, so indignant he couldn't find his +tongue. When he did find it, he said some very unpleasant things, and +right away they began to dispute. + +"What good are you to anybody but yourself, never seeing anything of the +Great World and not knowing anything about what is going on or what +other people are doing?" asked old Mr. Toad. + +"I'm minding my own affairs and not meddling with things that don't +concern me, as seems to be the way out in the Great World you are so +fond of talking about," retorted Grandfather Frog. "Wise people know +enough to be content with what they have. You've been out in the Great +World ever since you could hop, and what good has it done you? Tell me +that! You haven't even a decent suit of clothes to your back." +Grandfather Frog patted his white and yellow waistcoat as he spoke and +looked admiringly at the reflection of his handsome green coat in the +Smiling Pool. + +Old Mr. Toad's eyes snapped, for you know his suit is very plain and +rough. + +"People who do honest work for their living have no time to sit about in +fine clothes admiring themselves," he replied sharply. "I've learned +this much out in the Great World, that lazy people come to no good end, +and I know enough not to choke myself to death." + +Grandfather Frog almost choked again, he was so angry. You see old Mr. +Toad's remarks were very personal, and nobody likes personal remarks +when they are unpleasant, especially if they happen to be true. +Grandfather Frog was trying his best to think of something sharp to say +in reply, when Mr. Redwing, sitting in the top of the big hickory-tree, +shouted: "Here comes Farmer Brown's boy!" + +Grandfather Frog forgot his anger and began to look anxious. He moved +about uneasily on his big green lily-pad and got ready to dive into the +Smiling Pool, for he was afraid that Farmer Brown's boy had a pocketful +of stones as he usually did have when he came over to the Smiling Pool. + +Old Mr. Toad didn't look troubled the least bit. He didn't even look +around for a hiding-place. He just sat still and grinned. + +"You'd better watch out, or you'll never visit the Smiling Pool again," +called Grandfather Frog. + +"Oh," replied old Mr. Toad, "I'm not afraid. Farmer Brown's boy is a +friend of mine. I help him in his garden. How to make friends is one of +the things the Great World has taught me." + +"Chugarum!" said Grandfather Frog. "I'd have you to know that--" + +But what it was that he was to know old Mr. Toad never found out, for +just then Grandfather Frog caught sight of Farmer Brown's boy and +without waiting even to say good-by he dived into the Smiling Pool. + + + + +X + +GRANDFATHER FROG STARTS OUT TO SEE THE GREAT WORLD + + +Grandfather Frog looked very solemn as he sat on his big green lily-pad +in the Smiling Pool. He looked very much as if he had something on his +mind. A foolish green fly actually brushed Grandfather Frog's nose and +he didn't even notice it. The fact is he did have something on his mind. +It had been there ever since his cousin, old Mr. Toad, had called the +day before and they had quarreled as usual over the question whether it +was best never to leave home or to go out into the Great World. + +Right in the midst of their quarrel along had come Farmer Brown's boy. +Now Grandfather Frog is afraid of Farmer Brown's boy, so when he +appeared, Grandfather Frog stopped arguing with old Mr. Toad and with a +great splash dived into the Smiling Pool and hid under a lily-pad. There +he stayed and watched his cousin, old Mr. Toad, grinning in the most +provoking way, for he wasn't afraid of Farmer Brown's boy. In fact, he +had boasted that they were friends. Grandfather Frog had thought that +this was just an idle boast, but when he saw Farmer Brown's boy tickle +old Mr. Toad under his chin with a straw, while Mr. Toad sat perfectly +still and seemed to enjoy it, he knew that it was true. + +Grandfather Frog had not come out of his hiding-place until after old +Mr. Toad had gone back across the Green Meadows and Farmer Brown's boy +had gone home for his supper. Then Grandfather Frog had climbed back on +his big green lily-pad and had sat there half the night without once +leading the chorus of the Smiling Pool with his great deep bass voice as +he usually did. He was thinking, thinking very hard. And now, this +bright, sunshiny morning, he was still thinking. + +The fact is Grandfather Frog was beginning to wonder if perhaps, after +all, Mr. Toad was right. If the Great World had taught him how to make +friends with Farmer Brown's boy, there really must be some things worth +learning there. Not for the world would Grandfather Frog have admitted +to old Mr. Toad or to any one else that there was anything for him to +learn, for you know he is very old and by his friends is accounted very +wise. But right down in his heart he was beginning to think that perhaps +there were some things which he couldn't learn in the Smiling Pool. So +he sat and thought and thought. Suddenly he made up his mind. + +"Chugarum!" said he. "I'll do it!" + +"Do what?" asked Jerry Muskrat, who happened to be swimming past. + +"I'll go out and see for myself what this Great World my cousin, old Mr. +Toad, is so fond of talking about is like," replied Grandfather Frog. + +"Don't you do it," advised Jerry Muskrat. "Don't you do anything so +foolish as that. You're too old, much too old, Grandfather Frog, to go +out into the Great World." + +Now few old people like to be told that they are too old to do what they +please, and Grandfather Frog is no different from others. "You just mind +your own affairs, Jerry Muskrat," he retorted sharply. "I guess I know +what is best for me without being told. If my cousin, old Mr. Toad, can +take care of himself out in the Great World, I can. He isn't half so +spry as I am. I'm going, and that is all there is about it!" + +With that Grandfather Frog dived into the Smiling Pool, swam across to a +place where the bank was low, and without once looking back started +across the Green Meadows to see the Great World. + + + + +XI + +GRANDFATHER FROG IS STUBBORN + + "Fee, fi, fe, fum! + Chug, chug, chugarum!" + + +Grandfather actually had started out to see the Great World. Yes, Sir, +he had turned his back on the Smiling Pool, and nothing that Jerry +Muskrat could say made the least bit of difference. Grandfather Frog had +made up his mind, and when he does that, it is just a waste of time and +breath for any one to try to make him change it. You see Grandfather +Frog is stubborn. Yes, that is just the word--stubborn. He would see for +himself what this Great World was that his cousin, old Mr. Toad, talked +so much about and said was so much better than the Smiling Pool where +Grandfather Frog had spent his whole life. + +"If old Mr. Toad can take care of himself, I can take care of myself out +in the Great World," said Grandfather Frog, to himself as, with great +jumps, he started out on to the Green Meadows. "I guess he isn't any +smarter than I am! He isn't half so spry as I am, and I can jump three +times as far as he can. I'll see for myself what this Great World is +like, and then I'll go back to the Smiling Pool and stay there the rest +of my life. Chugarum, how warm it is!" + +It was warm. Jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun was smiling his broadest and +pouring his warmest rays down on the Green Meadows. The Merry Little +Breezes of Old Mother West Wind were taking a nap. You see, they had +played so hard early in the morning that they were tired. So there was +nobody and nothing to cool Grandfather Frog, and he just grew warmer and +warmer with every jump. He began to grow thirsty, and how he did long +for a plunge in the dear, cool Smiling Pool! But he was stubborn. He +wouldn't turn back, no matter how uncomfortable he felt. He _would_ see +the Great World if it killed him. So he kept right on, jump, jump, jump, +jump. + +Grandfather Frog had been up the Laughing Brook and down the Laughing +Brook, where he could swim when he grew tired of traveling on the bank, +and where he could cool off whenever he became too warm, but never +before had he been very far away from water, and he found this a very +different matter. At first he had made great jumps, for that is what his +long legs were given him for; but the long grass bothered him, and after +a little the jumps grew shorter and shorter and shorter, and with every +jump he puffed and puffed and presently began to grunt. You see he never +before had made more than a few jumps at a time without resting, and his +legs grew tired in a very little while. + +Now if Grandfather Frog had known as much about the Green Meadows as the +little people who live there all the time do, he would have taken the +Lone Little Path, where the going was easy. But he didn't. He just +started right out without knowing where he was going, and of course the +way was hard, very hard indeed. The grass was so tall that he couldn't +see over it, and the ground was so rough that it hurt his tender feet, +which were used to the soft, mossy bank of the Smiling Pool. He had gone +only a little way before he wished with all his might that he had never +thought of seeing the Great World. But he had said that he was going to +and he would, so he kept right on--jump, jump, rest, jump, jump, jump, +rest, jump, and then a long rest. + +It was during one of these rests that he heard footsteps, and then a +dreadful sound that made cold chills run all over him. Sniff, sniff, +sniff! It was coming nearer. Grandfather Frog flattened himself down as +close to the ground as he could get. But it was of no use, no use at +all. The sniffing came nearer and nearer, and then right over him stood +Bowser the Hound! Bowser looked just as surprised as he felt. He put out +one paw and turned Grandfather Frog over on his back. Grandfather Frog +struggled to his feet and made two frightened jumps. + +"Bow, wow!" cried Bowser and rolled him over again. Bowser thought it +great fun, but Grandfather Frog thought that his last day had come. + + + + +XII + +GRANDFATHER FROG KEEPS ON + + Grandfather Frog is old and wise, + But even age is foolish. + I'm sure you'll all agree with me + His stubbornness was mulish. + + +That his very last day had come Grandfather Frog was sure. He didn't +have the least doubt about it. Here he was at the mercy of Bowser the +Hound out on the Green Meadows far from the dear, safe Smiling Pool. +Every time he moved, Bowser flipped him over on his back and danced +around him, barking with joy. Every minute Grandfather Frog expected to +feel Bowser's terrible teeth, and he grew cold at the thought. When he +found that he couldn't get away, he just lay still. He was too tired +and frightened to do much of anything else, anyway. + +Now when he lay still, he spoiled Bowser's fun, for it was seeing him +jump and kick his long legs that tickled Bowser so. Bowser tossed him up +in the air two or three times, but Grandfather Frog simply lay where he +fell without moving. + +"Bow, wow, wow!" cried Bowser, in his great deep voice. Grandfather Frog +didn't so much as blink his great goggly eyes. Bowser sniffed him all +over. + +"I guess I've frightened him to death," said Bowser, talking to himself. +"I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to have some fun with him." +With that, Bowser took one more sniff and then trotted off to try to +find something more exciting. You see, he hadn't had the least intention +in the world of really hurting Grandfather Frog. + +Grandfather Frog kept perfectly still until he was sure that Bowser was +nowhere near. Then he gave a great sigh of relief and crawled under a +big mullein leaf to rest, and think things over. + +"Chugarum, that was a terrible experience; it was, indeed!" said he to +himself, shivering at the very thought of what he had been through. +"Nothing like that ever happened to me in the Smiling Pool. I've always +said that the Smiling Pool is a better place in which to live than is +the Great World, and now I know it. The question is, what had I best do +now?" + +Now right down in his heart Grandfather Frog knew the answer. Of course +the best thing to do was to go straight back to the Smiling Pool as fast +as he could. But Grandfather Frog is stubborn. Yes, Sir, he certainly is +stubborn. And stubbornness is often just another name for foolishness. +He had told Jerry Muskrat that he was going out to see the Great World. +Now if he went back, Jerry would laugh at him. + +"I won't!" said Grandfather Frog. + +"What won't you do?" asked a voice so close to him that Grandfather Frog +made a long jump before he thought. You see, at the Smiling Pool he +always jumped at the least hint of danger, and because one jump always +took him into the water, he was always safe. But there was no water +here, and that jump took him right out where anybody passing could see +him. Then he turned around to see who had startled him so. It was Danny +Meadow Mouse. + +"I won't go back to the Smiling Pool until I have seen the Great World," +replied Grandfather Frog gruffly. + +[Illustration: "You won't see much of the Great World if you jump like +that every time you get a scare," said Danny. _Page 62._] + +"You won't see much of the Great World if you jump like that every time +you get a scare," said Danny, shaking his head. "No, Sir, you won't see +much of the Great World, because one of these times you'll jump right +into the claws of old Whitetail the Marsh Hawk, or his cousin Redtail, +or Reddy Fox. You take my advice, Grandfather Frog, and go straight back +to the Smiling Pool. You don't know enough about the Great World to take +care of yourself." + +But Grandfather Frog was set in his ways, and nothing that Danny Meadow +Mouse could say changed his mind in the least. "I started out to see the +Great World, and I'm going to keep right on," said he. + +"All right," said Danny at last. "If you will, I suppose you will. I'll +go a little way with you just to get you started right." + +"Thank you," replied Grandfather Frog. "Let's start right away." + + + + +XIII + +DANNY MEADOW MOUSE FEELS RESPONSIBLE + + +Responsible is a great big word. But it is just as big in its meaning as +it is in its looks, and that is the way words should be, I think, don't +you? Anyway, re-spon-sible is the way Danny Meadow Mouse felt when he +found Grandfather Frog out on the Green Meadows so far from the Smiling +Pool and so stubborn that he would keep on to see the Great World +instead of going back to his big green lily-pad in the Smiling Pool, +where he could take care of himself. You remember Peter Rabbit felt +re-spon-sible when he brought little Miss Fuzzy tail down from the Old +Pasture to the dear Old Briar-patch. He felt that it was his business +to see to it that no harm came to her, and that is just the way Danny +Meadow Mouse felt about Grandfather Frog. + +You see, Danny knew that if Grandfather Frog was going to jump like that +every time he was frightened, he wouldn't get very far in the Great +World. It might be the right thing to do in the Smiling Pool, where the +friendly water would hide him from his enemies, but it was just the +wrong thing to do on the Green Meadows or in the Green Forest. Danny had +learned, when a very tiny fellow, that there the only safe thing to do +when danger was near was to sit perfectly still and hardly breathe. + +Now Danny Meadow Mouse is fond of Grandfather Frog, and he couldn't bear +to think that something dreadful might happen to him. So when he found +that he couldn't get Grandfather Frog to go back to the Smiling Pool, he +made up his mind that he just _had_ to go along with Grandfather Frog to +try to keep him out of danger. Yes, Sir, he just _had_ to do it. He felt +re-spon-sible for Grandfather Frog's safety. So here they were, Danny +Meadow Mouse running ahead, anxious and worried and watching sharply for +signs of danger, and Grandfather Frog puffing along behind, bound to see +the Great World which his cousin, old Mr. Toad, said was a better place +to live in than the Smiling Pool. + +Now Danny has a great many private little paths under the grass all over +the Green Meadows, and along these he can scamper ever so fast without +once showing himself to those who may be looking for him. Of course he +started to take Grandfather Frog along one of these little paths. But +Grandfather Frog doesn't walk or run; he jumps. There wasn't room in +Danny's little paths for jumping, as they soon found out. Grandfather +Frog simply couldn't follow Danny along those little paths. Danny sat +down to think, and puckered his brows anxiously. He was more worried +than ever. It was very clear that Grandfather Frog would have to travel +out in the open, where there was room for him to jump, and where also he +would be right out in plain sight of all who happened along. Once more +Danny urged him to go back to the Smiling Pool, but he might just as +well have talked to a stick or a stone. Grandfather Frog had started out +to see the Great World, and he was going to see it. + +Danny sighed. "If you will, you will, I suppose," said he, "and I guess +the only place you can travel in any comfort is the Lone Little Path. +It is dangerous, very dangerous, but I guess you will have to do it." + +"Chugarum!" replied Grandfather Frog, "I'm not afraid. You show me the +Lone Little Path and then go about your business, Danny Meadow Mouse." + +So Danny led the way to the Lone Little Path, and Grandfather Frog +sighed with relief, for here he could jump without getting all tangled +up in long grass and without hurting his tender feet on sharp stubble +where the grass had been cut. But Danny felt more worried than ever. He +wouldn't leave Grandfather Frog because, you know, he felt re-spon-sible +for him, and at the same time he was terribly afraid, for he felt sure +that some of their enemies would see them. He wanted to go back, but he +kept right on, and that shows just what a brave little fellow Danny +Meadow Mouse was. + + + + +XIV + +GRANDFATHER FROG HAS A STRANGE RIDE + + A thousand things may happen to, + Ten thousand things befall, + The traveler who careless is, + Or thinks he knows it all. + + +Grandfather Frog, jumping along behind Danny Meadow Mouse up the Lone +Little Path, was beginning to think that Danny was the most timid and +easiest frightened of all the little meadow people of his acquaintance. +Danny kept as much under the grass that overhung the Lone Little Path as +he could. When there were perfectly bare places, Danny looked this way +and looked that way anxiously and then scampered across as fast as he +could make his little legs go. When he was safely across, he would wait +for Grandfather Frog. If a shadow passed over the grass, Danny would +duck under the nearest leaf and hold his breath. + +"Foolish!" muttered Grandfather Frog. "Foolish, foolish to be so afraid! +Now, I'm not afraid until I see something to be afraid of. Time enough +then. What's the good of looking for trouble all the time? Now, here I +am out in the Great World, and I'm not afraid. And here's Danny Meadow +Mouse, who has lived here all his life, acting as if he expected +something dreadful to happen any minute. Pooh! How very, very foolish!" + +Now Grandfather Frog is old and in the Smiling Pool he is accounted +very, very wise. But the wisest sometimes become foolish when they think +that they know all there is to know. It was so with Grandfather Frog. +It was he who was foolish and not Danny Meadow Mouse. You see Danny knew +all the dangers on the Green Meadows, and how many sharp eyes were all +the time watching for him. He had long ago learned that the only way to +feel safe was to feel afraid. You see, then he was watching for danger +every minute, and so he wasn't likely to be surprised by his hungry +enemies. + +So while Grandfather Frog was looking down on Danny for being so timid, +Danny was really doing the wisest thing. More than that, he was really +very, very brave. He was showing Grandfather Frog the way up the Lone +Little Path to see the Great World, when he himself would never, never +have thought of traveling anywhere but along his own secret little +paths, just because Grandfather Frog couldn't jump anywhere excepting +where the way was fairly clear, as in the Lone Little Path, and Danny +was afraid that unless Grandfather Frog had some one with him to watch +out for him, he would surely come to a sad end. + +The farther they went with nothing happening, the more foolish Danny's +timid way of running and hiding seemed to Grandfather Frog, and he was +just about to tell Danny just what he thought, when Danny dived into the +long grass and warned Grandfather Frog to do the same. But Grandfather +Frog didn't. + +"Chugarum!" said he, "I don't see anything to be afraid of, and I'm not +going to hide until I do." + +So he sat still right where he was, in the middle of the Lone Little +Path, looking this way and that way, and seeing nothing to be afraid of. +And just then around a turn in the Lone Little Path came--who do you +think? Why Farmer Brown's boy! He saw Grandfather Frog and with a whoop +of joy he sprang for him. Grandfather Frog gave a frightened croak and +jumped, but he was too late. Before he could jump again Farmer Brown's +boy had him by his long hind-legs. + +"Ha, ha!" shouted Farmer Brown's boy, "I believe this is the very old +chap I have tried so often to catch in the Smiling Pool. These legs of +yours will be mighty fine eating, Mr. Frog. They will, indeed." + +With that he tied Grandfather Frog's legs together and went on his way +across the Green Meadows with poor old Grandfather Frog dangling from +the end of a string. It was a strange ride and a most uncomfortable one, +and with all his might Grandfather Frog wished he had never thought of +going out into the Great World. + + + + +XV + +GRANDFATHER FROG GIVES UP HOPE + + +With his legs tied together, hanging head down from the end of a string, +Grandfather Frog was being carried he knew not where by Farmer Brown's +boy. It was dreadful. Half-way across the Green Meadows the Merry Little +Breezes of Old Mother West Wind came dancing along. At first they didn't +see Grandfather Frog, but presently one of them, rushing up to tease +Farmer Brown's boy by blowing off his hat, caught sight of Grandfather +Frog. + +Now the Merry Little Breezes are great friends of Grandfather Frog. +Many, many times they have blown foolish green flies over to him as he +sat on his big green lily-pad, and they are very fond of him. So when +this one caught sight of him in such a dreadful position, he forgot all +about teasing Farmer Brown's boy. He raced away to tell the other Merry +Little Breezes. For a minute they were perfectly still. They forgot all +about being merry. + +"It's awful, just perfectly awful!" cried one. + +"We must do something to help Grandfather Frog!" cried another. + +"Of course we must," said a third. + +"But what can we do?" asked a fourth. + +Nobody replied. They just thought and thought and thought. Finally the +first one spoke. "We might try to comfort him a little," said he. + +"Of course we will do that!" they shouted all together. + +"And if we throw dust in the face of Farmer Brown's boy and steal his +hat, perhaps he will put Grandfather Frog down," continued the Merry +Little Breeze. + +"The very thing!" the others cried, dancing about with excitement. + +"Then we can rush about and tell all Grandfather Frog's friends what has +happened to him and where he is. Perhaps some of them can help us," the +Little Breeze continued. + +They wasted no more time talking, but raced after Farmer Brown's boy as +fast as they could go. One of them, who was faster than the others, ran +ahead and whispered in Grandfather Frog's ear that they were coming to +help him. But poor old Grandfather Frog couldn't be comforted. He +couldn't see what there was that the Merry Little Breezes could do. His +legs smarted where the string cut into the skin, and his head ached, +for you know he was hanging head down. No, Sir, Grandfather Frog +couldn't be comforted. He was in a terrible fix, and he couldn't see any +way out of it. He hadn't the least bit of hope left. And all the time +Farmer Brown's boy was trudging along, whistling merrily. You see, it +didn't occur to him to think how Grandfather Frog must be suffering and +how terribly frightened he must be. He wasn't cruel. No, indeed, Farmer +Brown's boy wasn't cruel. That is, he didn't mean to be cruel. He was +just thoughtless, like a great many other boys, and girls too. + +So he went whistling on his way until he reached the Long Lane leading +from the Green Meadows up to Farmer Brown's dooryard. No sooner was he +in the Long Lane than something happened. A great cloud of dust and +leaves and tiny sticks was dashed in his face and nearly choked him. +Dirt got in his eyes. His hat was snatched from his head and went +sailing over into the garden. He dropped Grandfather Frog and felt for +his handkerchief to wipe the dirt from his eyes. + +"Phew!" exclaimed Farmer Brown's boy, as he started after his hat. "It's +funny where that wind came from so suddenly!" + +But you know and I know that it was the Merry Little Breezes working +together who made up that sudden wind. And Grandfather Frog ought to +have known it too, but he didn't. You see the dust had got in his nose +and eyes just as it had in those of Farmer Brown's boy, and he was so +frightened and confused that he couldn't think. So he lay just where +Farmer Brown's boy dropped him, and he didn't have any more hope than +before. + + + + +XVI + +THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES WORK HARD + + +The Merry Little Breezes almost shouted aloud with delight when they saw +Farmer Brown's boy drop Grandfather Frog to feel for his handkerchief +and wipe out the dust which they had thrown in his eyes. Then he had to +climb the fence and chase his hat through the garden. They would let him +almost get his hands on it and then, just as he thought that he surely +had it, they would snatch it away. It was great fun for the Merry Little +Breezes. But they were not doing it for fun. No, indeed, they were not +doing it for fun! They were doing it to lead Farmer Brown's boy away +from Grandfather Frog. + +Just as soon as they dared, they dropped the hat and then separated and +rushed away in all directions across the Green Meadows, over to the +Green Forest, and down to the Smiling Pool. What were they going for? +Why, to hunt for some of Grandfather Frog's friends and ask their help. +You see, the Merry Little Breezes could make Farmer Brown's boy drop +Grandfather Frog, but they couldn't untie a knot or cut a string, and +this is just what had got to be done to set Grandfather Frog free, for +his hind-legs were tied together. So now they were looking for some one +with sharp teeth, who thought enough of Grandfather Frog to come and +help him. + +One thought of Striped Chipmunk and started for the old stone wall to +look for him. Another went in search of Danny Meadow Mouse. A third +headed for the dear Old Briar-patch after Peter Rabbit. A fourth +remembered Jimmy Skunk and how he had once set Blacky the Crow free from +a snare. A fifth remembered what sharp teeth Happy Jack Squirrel has and +hurried over to the Green Forest to look for him. A sixth started +straight for the Smiling Pool to tell Jerry Muskrat. And every one of +them raced as fast as he could. + +All this time Grandfather Frog was without hope. Yes, Sir, poor old +Grandfather Frog was wholly in despair. You see, he didn't know what the +Merry Little Breezes were trying to do, and he was so frightened and +confused that he couldn't think. When Farmer Brown's boy dropped him, he +lay right where he fell for a few minutes. Then, right close at hand, he +saw an old board. Without really thinking, he tried to get to it, for +there looked as if there might be room for him to hide under it. It was +hard work, for you know his long hind-legs, which he uses for jumping, +were tied together. The best he could do was to crawl and wriggle and +pull himself along. Just as Farmer Brown's boy started to climb the +fence back into the Long Lane, his hat in his hand, Grandfather Frog +reached the old board and crawled under it. + +Now when the Merry Little Breezes had thrown the dust in Farmer Brown's +boy's face and snatched his hat, he had dropped Grandfather Frog in such +a hurry that he didn't notice just where he did drop him, so now he +didn't know the exact place to look for him. But he knew pretty near, +and he hadn't the least doubt but that he would find him. He had just +started to look when the dinner horn sounded. Farmer Brown's boy +hesitated. He was hungry. If he was late, he might lose his dinner. He +could come back later to look for Grandfather Frog, for with his legs +tied Grandfather Frog couldn't get far. So, with a last look to make +sure of the place, Farmer Brown's boy started for the house. + +If the Merry Little Breezes had known this, they would have felt ever so +much better. But they didn't. So they hurried as fast as ever they could +to find Grandfather Frog's friends and worked until they were almost too +tired to move, for it seemed as if every single one of Grandfather +Frog's friends had taken that particular day to go away from home. So +while Farmer Brown's boy ate his dinner, and Grandfather Frog lay hiding +under the old board in the Long Lane, the Merry Little Breezes did their +best to find help for him. + + + + +XVII + +STRIPED CHIPMUNK CUTS THE STRING + + "Hippy hop! Flippy flop! All on a summer day + My mother turned me from the house and sent me out to play!" + + +Striped Chipmunk knew perfectly well that that was just nonsense, but +Striped Chipmunk learned a long time ago that when you are just bubbling +right over with good feeling, there is fun in saying and doing foolish +things, and that is just how he was feeling. So he ran along the old +rail fence on one side of the Long Lane, saying foolish things and +cutting up foolish capers just because he felt so good, and all the time +seeing all that those bright little eyes of his could take in. + +Now Striped Chipmunk and the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West +Wind are great friends, very great friends, indeed. Almost every morning +they have a grand frolic together. But this morning the Merry Little +Breezes hadn't come over to the old stone wall where Striped Chipmunk +makes his home. Anyway, they hadn't come at the usual time. Striped +Chipmunk had waited a little while and then, because he was feeling so +good, he had decided to take a run down the Long Lane to see if anything +new had happened there. That is how it happened that when one of the +Merry Little Breezes did go to look for him, and was terribly anxious to +ask him to come to the help of Grandfather Frog, he was nowhere to be +found. + +But Striped Chipmunk didn't know anything about that. He scampered +along the top rails of the old fence, jumped up on top of a post, and +sat up to wash his face and hands, for Striped Chipmunk is very neat and +cannot bear to be the least bit dirty. He looked up and winked at Ol' +Mistah Buzzard, sailing round and round way, way up in the blue, blue +sky. He chased his own tail round and round until he nearly fell off of +the post. He made a wry face in the direction of Redtail the Hawk, whom +he could see sitting in the top of a tall tree way over on the Green +Meadows. He scolded Bowser the Hound, who happened to come trotting up +the Long Lane, and didn't stop scolding until Bowser was out of sight. +Then he kicked up his heels and whisked along the old fence again. + +Half-way across a shaky old rail, he suddenly stopped. His bright eyes +had seen something that filled him with curiosity, quite as much +curiosity as Peter Rabbit would have had. It was a piece of string. Yes, +Sir, it was a piece of string. Now Striped Chipmunk often had found +pieces of string, so there was nothing particularly interesting in the +string itself. What did interest him and make him very curious was the +fact that this piece of string kept moving. Every few seconds it gave a +little jerk. Whoever heard of a piece of string moving all by itself? +Certainly Striped Chipmunk never had. He couldn't understand it. + +For a few minutes he watched it from the top rail of the old fence. Then +he scurried down to the ground and, a few steps at a time, stopping to +watch sharply between each little run, he drew nearer and nearer to that +queer acting string. It gave him a funny feeling inside to see a string +acting like that, so he was very careful not to get too near. He looked +at it from one side, then ran around and looked at it from the other +side. At last he got where he could see that one end of the string was +under an old board, and then he began to understand. Of course there was +somebody hiding under that old board and jerking the string. + +[Illustration: He seized the other end of the string and began to pull. +_Page 88._] + +Striped Chipmunk sat down and scratched his head thoughtfully. Whoever +was pulling that string couldn't be very big, or they would never have +been able to crawl under that old board, therefore he needn't be afraid. +A gleam of mischief twinkled in Striped Chipmunk's eyes. He seized the +other end of the string and began to pull. Such a jerking and yanking as +began right away! But he held on and pulled harder. Then out from under +the old board appeared the queer webbed feet of Grandfather Frog tied +together. Striped Chipmunk was so surprised that he let go of the string +and nearly fell over backward. + +"Why, Grandfather Frog, what under the sun are you doing here?" he +shouted. + +When Striped Chipmunk let go of the string, Grandfather Frog promptly +drew his feet back under the old board, but when he heard Striped +Chipmunk's voice, he slowly and painfully crawled out. He told how he +had been caught and tied by Farmer Brown's boy and finally dropped near +the old board. He told how terribly frightened he was, and how sore his +legs were. Striped Chipmunk didn't wait for him to finish. In a flash he +was at work with his sharp teeth and had cut the cruel string before +Grandfather Frog had finished his story. + + + + +XVIII + +GRANDFATHER FROG HURRIES AWAY + + +When Striped Chipmunk cut the string that bound the long legs of +Grandfather Frog together, Grandfather Frog was so relieved that he +hardly knew what to do. Of course he thanked Striped Chipmunk over and +over again. Striped Chipmunk said that it was nothing, just nothing at +all, and that he was very glad indeed to help Grandfather Frog. + +"We folks who live out in the Great World have to help one another," +said Striped Chipmunk, "because we never know when we may need help +ourselves. Now you take my advice, Grandfather Frog, and go back to the +Smiling Pool as fast as you can. The Great World is no place for an old +fellow like you, because you don't know how to take care of yourself." + +Now when he said that, Striped Chipmunk made a great mistake. Old people +never like to be told that they are old or that they do not know all +there is to know. Grandfather Frog straightened up and tried to look +very dignified. + +"Chugarum!" said he, "I'd have you to know, Striped Chipmunk, that +people were coming to me for advice before you were born. It was just an +accident that Farmer Brown's boy caught me, and I'd like to see him do +it again. Yes, Sir, I'd like to see him do it again!" + +Dear me, dear me! Grandfather Frog was boasting. If he had been safe at +home in the Smiling Pool, there might have been some excuse for +boasting, but way over here in the Long Lane, not even knowing the way +back to the Smiling Pool, it was foolish, very foolish indeed. No one +knew that better than Striped Chipmunk, but he has a great deal of +respect for Grandfather Frog, and he knew too that Grandfather Frog was +feeling very much out of sorts and very much mortified to think that he +had been caught in such a scrape, so he put a hand over his mouth to +hide a smile as he said: + +"Of course he isn't going to catch you again. I know how wise and smart +you are, but you look to me very tired, and there are so many dangers +out here in the Great World that it seems to me that the very best thing +you can do is to go back to the Smiling Pool." + +But Grandfather Frog is stubborn, you know. He had started out to see +the Great World, and he didn't want the little people of the Green +Meadows and the Green Forest to think that he was afraid. The truth is, +Grandfather Frog was more afraid of being laughed at than he was of the +dangers around him, which shows just how foolish wise people can be +sometimes. So he shook his head. + +"Chugarum!" said he, "I am going to see the Great World first, and then +I am going back to the Smiling Pool. Do you happen to know where there +is any water? I am very thirsty." + +Now over on the other side of the Long Lane was a spring where Farmer +Brown's boy filled his jug with clear cold water to take with him to the +cornfield when he had to work there. Striped Chipmunk knew all about +that spring, for he had been there for a drink many times. So he told +Grandfather Frog just where the spring was and how to get to it. He even +offered to show the way, but Grandfather Frog said that he would rather +go alone. + +"Watch out, Grandfather Frog, and don't fall in, because you might not +be able to get out again," warned Striped Chipmunk. + +Grandfather Frog looked up sharply to see if Striped Chipmunk was making +fun of him. The very idea of any one thinking that he, who had lived in +the water all his life, couldn't get out when he pleased! But Striped +Chipmunk looked really in earnest, so Grandfather Frog swallowed the +quick retort on the tip of his tongue, thanked Striped Chipmunk, and +hurried away to look for the spring, for he was very, very thirsty. +Besides, he was very, very hot, and he hurried still faster as he +thought of the cool bath he would have when he found that spring. + + + + +XIX + +GRANDFATHER FROG JUMPS INTO MORE TROUBLE + + +Some people are heedless and run into trouble. Some people are stupid +and walk into trouble. Grandfather Frog was both heedless and stupid and +jumped into trouble. When Striped Chipmunk told him where the spring +was, it seemed to him that he couldn't wait to reach it. You see, +Grandfather Frog had spent all his life in the Smiling Pool, where he +could get a drink whenever he wanted it by just reaching over the edge +of his big green lily-pad. Whenever he was too warm, all he had to do +was to say "Chugarum!" and dive head first into the cool water. So he +wasn't used to going a long time without water. + +Jump, jump, jump! Grandfather Frog was going as fast as ever he could +in the direction Striped Chipmunk had pointed out. Every three or four +jumps he would stop for just a wee, wee bit of rest, then off he would +go again, jump, jump, jump! And each jump was a long one. Peter Rabbit +certainly would have been envious if he could have seen those long jumps +of Grandfather Frog. + +At last the ground began to grow damp. The farther he went, the damper +it grew. Presently it became fairly wet, and there was a great deal of +soft, cool, wet moss. How good it did feel to Grandfather Frog's poor +tired feet! + +"Must be I'm most there," said Grandfather Frog to himself, as he +scrambled up on a big mossy hummock, so as to look around. Right away he +saw a little path from the direction of the Long Lane. It led straight +past the very hummock on which Grandfather Frog was sitting, and he +noticed that where the ground was very soft and wet, old boards had been +laid down. That puzzled Grandfather Frog a great deal. + +"It's a sure enough path," said he. "But what under the blue, blue sky +does any one want to spoil it for by putting those boards there?" + +You see, Grandfather Frog likes the soft wet mud, and he couldn't +understand how any one, even Farmer Brown's boy, could prefer a hard dry +path. Of course he never had worn shoes himself, so he couldn't +understand why any one should want dry feet when they could just as well +have wet ones. He was still puzzling over it when he heard a sound that +made him nearly lose his balance and tumble off the hummock. It was a +whistle, the whistle of Farmer Brown's boy! Grandfather Frog knew it +right away, because he often had heard it over by the Smiling Pool. The +whistle came from over in the Long Lane. Farmer Brown's boy had had his +dinner and was on his way back to look for Grandfather Frog where he had +been dropped. + +Grandfather Frog actually grinned as he thought how surprised Farmer +Brown's boy was going to be when he could find no trace of him. Suddenly +the smile seemed to freeze on Grandfather Frog's face. That whistle was +coming nearer! Farmer Brown's boy had left the Long Lane and was coming +along the little path. The truth is, he was coming for a drink at the +spring, but Grandfather Frog didn't think of this. He was sure that in +some way Farmer Brown's boy had found out which way he had gone and was +coming after him. He crouched down as flat as he could on the big +hummock and held his breath. Farmer Brown's boy went straight past. +Just a few steps beyond, he stopped and knelt down. Peeping through the +grass, Grandfather Frog saw him dip up beautiful clear water in an old +cup and drink. Then Grandfather Frog knew just where the spring was. + +A few minutes later, Farmer Brown's boy passed again, still whistling, +on his way to the Long Lane. Grandfather Frog waited only long enough to +be sure that he had really gone. Then, with bigger jumps than ever, he +started for the spring. A dozen long jumps, and he could see the water. +Two more jumps and then a long jump, and he had landed in the spring +with a splash! + +"Chugarum!" cried Grandfather Frog. "How good the water feels!" + +And all the time, Grandfather Frog had jumped straight into more +trouble. + + + + +XX + +GRANDFATHER FROG LOSES HEART + + Look before you leap; + The water may be deep. + + +That is the very best kind of advice, but most people find that out when +it is too late. Grandfather Frog did. Of course he had heard that little +verse all his life. Indeed, he had been very fond of saying it to those +who came to the Smiling Pool to ask his advice. But Grandfather Frog +seemed to have left all his wisdom behind him when he left the Smiling +Pool to go out into the Great World. You see, it is very hard work for +any one whose advice has been sought to turn right around and take +advice themselves. So Grandfather Frog had been getting into scrapes +ever since he started out on his foolish journey, and now here he was in +still another, and he had landed in it head first, with a great splash. + +Of course, when he had seen the cool, sparkling water of the spring, it +had seemed to him that he just couldn't wait another second to get into +it. He was so hot and dry and dreadfully thirsty and uncomfortable! And +so--oh, dear me!--Grandfather Frog didn't look at all before he leaped. +No, Sir, he didn't! He just dived in with a great long jump. Oh, how +good that water felt! For a few minutes he couldn't think of anything +else. It was cooler than the water of the Smiling Pool, because, as you +know, it was a spring. But it felt all the better for that, and +Grandfather Frog just closed his eyes and floated there in pure +happiness. + +Presently he opened his eyes to look around. Then he blinked them +rapidly for a minute or so. He rubbed them to make sure that he saw +aright. His heart seemed to sink way, way down towards his toes. +"Chugarum!" exclaimed Grandfather Frog, "Chugarum!" And after that for a +long time he didn't say a word. + +You see, it was this way. All around him rose perfectly straight smooth +walls. He could look up and see a little of the blue, blue sky right +overhead and whispering leaves of trees and bushes. Over the edge of the +smooth straight wall grasses were bending. But they were so far above +his head, so dreadfully far! _There wasn't any place to climb out!_ +Grandfather Frog was in a prison! He didn't understand it at all, but it +was so. + +Of course, Farmer Brown's boy could have told him all about it. A long +time before Farmer Brown himself had found that spring, and because the +water was so clear and cold and pure, he had cleared away all the dirt +and rubbish around it. Then he had knocked the bottom out of a nice +clean barrel and had dug down where the water bubbled up out of the sand +and had set the barrel down in this hole and had filled in the bottom +with clean white sand for the water to bubble up through. About half-way +up the barrel he had cut a little hole for the water to run out as fast +as it bubbled in at the bottom. Of course the water never could fill the +barrel, because when it reached that hole, it ran out. This left a +straight, smooth wall up above, a wall altogether too high for +Grandfather Frog to jump over from the inside. + +Poor old Grandfather Frog! He wished more than ever that he never, never +had thought of leaving the Smiling Pool to see the Great World. Round +and round he swam, but he couldn't see any way out of it. The little +hole where the water ran out was too small for him to squeeze through, +as he found out by trying and trying. So far as he could see, he had +just got to stay there all the rest of his life. Worse still, he knew +that Farmer Brown's boy sometimes came to the spring for a drink, for he +had seen him do it. That meant that the very next time he came, he would +find Grandfather Frog, because there was no place to hide. When +Grandfather Frog thought of that, he just lost heart. Yes, Sir, he just +lost heart. He gave up all hope of ever seeing the Smiling Pool again, +and two big tears ran out of his big goggly eyes. + + + + +XXI + +THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES TRY TO COMFORT GRANDFATHER FROG + + +When the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind had left +Grandfather Frog in the Long Lane where Farmer Brown's boy had dropped +him, and had hurried as fast as ever they could to try to find some of +his friends to help him, not one of them had been successful. No one was +at home, and no one was in any of the places where they usually were to +be found. The Merry Little Breezes looked and looked. Then, one by one, +they sadly turned back to the Long Lane. They felt so badly that they +just hated to go back where they had left Grandfather Frog. + +When they got there, they found Striped Chipmunk, who now was scolding +Farmer Brown's boy as fast as his tongue could go. + +"Where is he?" cried the Merry Little Breezes excitedly. + +Striped Chipmunk stopped scolding long enough to point to Farmer Brown's +boy, who was hunting in the grass for some trace of Grandfather Frog. + +"We don't mean him, you stupid! We can see him for ourselves. Where's +Grandfather Frog?" cried the Merry Little Breezes, all speaking at once. + +"I don't know," replied Striped Chipmunk, "and what's more, I don't +care!" + +Now this wasn't true, for Striped Chipmunk isn't that kind. It was +mostly talk, and the Merry Little Breezes knew it. They knew that +Striped Chipmunk really thinks a great deal of Grandfather Frog, just as +they do. So they pretended not to notice what he said or how put out he +seemed. After a while, he told them that he had set Grandfather Frog +free and that then he had started for the spring on the other side of +the Long Lane. The Merry Little Breezes were delighted to hear the good +news, and they said such a lot of nice things to Striped Chipmunk that +he quite forgot to scold Farmer Brown's boy. Then they started for the +spring, dancing merrily, for they felt sure that there Grandfather Frog +was all right, and they expected to find him quite at home. + +"Hello, Grandfather Frog!" they shouted, as they peeped into the spring. +"How do you like your new home?" + +Grandfather Frog made no reply. He just rolled his great goggly eyes up +at them, and they were full of tears. + +"Why--why--why, Grandfather Frog, what is the matter now?" they cried. + +"Chugarum," said Grandfather Frog, and his voice sounded all choky, "I +can't get out." + +Then they noticed for the first time how straight and smooth the walls +of the spring were and how far down Grandfather Frog was, and they knew +that he spoke the truth. They tried bending down the grasses that grew +around the edge of the spring, but none were long enough to reach the +water. If they had stopped to think, they would have known that +Grandfather Frog couldn't have climbed up by them, anyway. Then they +tried to lift a big stick into the spring, but it was too heavy for +them, and they couldn't move it. However, they did manage to blow an old +shingle in, and this gave Grandfather Frog something to sit on, so that +he began to feel a little better. Then they said all the comforting +things they could think of. They told him that no harm could come to +him there, unless Farmer Brown's boy should happen to see him. + +[Illustration: "That's just what I'm afraid of!" croaked Grandfather +Frog. _Page 109_.] + +"That's just what I am afraid of!" croaked Grandfather Frog. "He is sure +to see me if he comes for a drink, for there is no place for me to +hide." + +"Perhaps he won't come," said one of the Little Breezes hopefully. + +"If he does come, you can hide under the piece of shingle, and then he +won't know you are here at all," said another. + +Grandfather Frog brightened up. "That's so!" said he. "That's a good +idea, and I'll try it." + +Then one of the Merry Little Breezes promised to keep watch for Farmer +Brown's boy, and all the others started off on another hunt for some one +to help Grandfather Frog out of this new trouble. + + + + +XXII + +GRANDFATHER FROG'S TROUBLES GROW + + Head first in; no way out; + It's best to know what you're about! + + +Grandfather Frog had had plenty of time to realize how very true this +is. As he sat on the old shingle which the Merry Little Breezes had +blown into the spring where he was a prisoner, he thought a great deal +about that little word "if." _If_ he hadn't left the Smiling Pool, _if_ +he hadn't been stubborn and set in his ways, _if_ he hadn't been in such +a hurry, _if_ he had looked to see where he was leaping--well, any one +of these _ifs_ would have kept him out of his present trouble. + +It really wasn't so bad in the spring. That is, it wouldn't have been +so bad but for the fear that Farmer Brown's boy might come for a drink +and find him there. That was Grandfather Frog's one great fear, and it +gave him bad dreams whenever he tried to take a nap. He grew cold all +over at the very thought of being caught again by Farmer Brown's boy, +and when at last one of the Merry Little Breezes hurried up to tell him +that Farmer Brown's boy actually was coming, poor old Grandfather Frog +was so frightened that the Merry Little Breeze had to tell him twice to +hide under the old shingle as it floated on the water. + +At last he got it through his head, and drawing a very long breath, he +dived into the water and swam under the old shingle. He was just in +time. Yes, Sir, he was just in time. If Farmer Brown's boy hadn't been +thinking of something else, he certainly would have noticed the little +rings on the water made by Grandfather Frog when he dived in. But he was +thinking of something else, and it wasn't until he dipped a cup in for +the second time that he even saw the old shingle. + +"Hello!" he exclaimed. "That must have blown in since I was here +yesterday. We can't have anything like that in our nice spring." + +With that he reached out for the old shingle, and Grandfather Frog, +hiding under it, gave himself up for lost. But the anxious Little Breeze +had been watching sharply and the instant he saw what Farmer Brown's boy +was going to do, he played the old, old trick of snatching his hat from +his head. The truth is, he couldn't think of anything else to do. Farmer +Brown's boy grabbed at his hat, and then, because he was in a hurry and +had other things to do, he started off without once thinking of the old +shingle again. + +"Chugarum!" cried Grandfather Frog, as he swam out from under the +shingle and climbed up on it, "That certainly was a close call. If I +have many more like it, I certainly shall die of fright." + +Nothing more happened for a long time, and Grandfather Frog was +wondering if it wouldn't be safe to take a nap when he saw peeping over +the edge above him two eyes. They were greenish yellow eyes, and they +stared and stared. Grandfather Frog stared and stared back. He just +couldn't help it. He didn't know who they belonged to. He couldn't +remember ever having seen them before. He was afraid, and yet somehow he +couldn't make up his mind to jump. He stared so hard at the eyes that he +didn't notice a long furry paw slowly, very slowly, reaching down +towards him. Nearer it crept and nearer. Then suddenly it moved like a +flash. Grandfather Frog felt sharp claws in his white and yellow +waistcoat, and before he could even open his mouth to cry "Chugarum," he +was sent flying through the air and landed on his back in the grass. +Pounce! Two paws pinned him down, and the greenish yellow eyes were not +an inch from his own. They belonged to Black Pussy, Farmer Brown's cat. + + + + +XXIII + + +THE DEAR OLD SMILING POOL ONCE MORE + + +Black Pussy was having a good time. Grandfather Frog wasn't. It was +great fun for Black Pussy to slip a paw under Grandfather Frog and toss +him up in the air. It was still more fun to pretend to go away, but to +hide instead, and the instant Grandfather Frog started off, to pounce +upon him and cuff him and roll him about. But there wasn't any fun in it +for Grandfather Frog. In the first place, he didn't know whether or not +Black Pussy liked Frogs to eat, and he was terribly frightened. In the +second place, Black Pussy didn't always cover up her claws, and they +pricked right through Grandfather Frog's white and yellow waistcoat and +hurt, for he is very tender there. + +At last Black Pussy grew tired of playing, so catching up Grandfather +Frog in her mouth, she started along the little path from the spring to +the Long Lane. Grandfather Frog didn't even kick, which was just as +well, because if he had, Black Pussy would have held him tighter, and +that would have been very uncomfortable indeed. + +"It's all over, and this is the end," moaned Grandfather Frog. "I'm +going to be eaten now. Oh, why, why did I ever leave the Smiling Pool?" + +Just as Black Pussy slipped into the Long Lane, Grandfather Frog heard a +familiar sound. It was a whistle, a merry whistle. It was the whistle of +Farmer Brown's boy. It was coming nearer and nearer. A little bit of +hope began to stir in the heart of Grandfather Frog. + +He didn't know just why, but it did. Always he had been in the greatest +fear of Farmer Brown's boy, but now--well, if Farmer Brown's boy should +take him, he might get away from him as he did before, but he was very +sure that he never, never could get away from Black Pussy. + +The whistle drew nearer. Black Pussy stopped. Then she began to make a +queer whirring sound deep down in her throat. + +"Hello, Black Pussy! Have you been hunting? Come here and show me what +you've got," cried a voice. + +Black Pussy arched up her back and began to rub against the legs of +Farmer Brown's boy, and all the time the whir, ring sound in her throat +grew louder and louder. Farmer Brown's boy stooped down to see what she +had in her mouth. + +"Why," he exclaimed, "I do believe this is the very same old frog that +got away from me! You don't want him, Puss. I'll just put him in my +pocket and take him up to the house by and by." + +With that he took Grandfather Frog from Black Pussy and dropped him in +his pocket. He patted Black Pussy, called her a smart cat, and then +started on his way, whistling merrily. It was dark and rather close in +that pocket, but Grandfather Frog didn't mind this. It was a lot better +than feeling sharp teeth and claws all the time. He wondered how soon +they would reach the house and what would happen to him then. After what +seemed like a long, long time, he felt himself swung through the air, +and then he landed on the ground with a thump that made him grunt. +Farmer Brown's boy had taken off his coat and thrown it down. + +The whistling stopped. Everything was quiet. Grandfather Frog waited +and listened, but not a sound could he hear. Then he saw a little ray of +light creeping into his prison. He squirmed and pushed, and all of a +sudden he was out of the pocket. The bright light made him blink. As +soon as he could see, he looked to see where he was. Then he rubbed his +eyes with both hands and looked again. He wasn't at Farmer Brown's house +at all. Where do you think he was? Why, right on the bank of the Smiling +Pool, and a little way off was Farmer Brown's boy fishing! + +"Chugarum!" cried Grandfather Frog, and it was the loudest, gladdest +chugarum that the Smiling Pool ever had heard. "Chugarum!" he cried +again, and with a great leap he dived with a splash into the dear old +Smiling Pool, which smiled more than ever. + +And never again has Grandfather Frog tried to see the Great World. He +is quite content to leave it to those who like to dwell there. And since +his own wonderful adventures, he has been ready to believe anything he +is told about what happens there. Nothing can surprise him, not even the +astonishing things that happened to Chatterer the Red Squirrel, about +which it takes a whole book to tell. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14375 *** |