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+Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Ferdinand Frog, by Arthur Scott Bailey
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tale of Ferdinand Frog
+
+Author: Arthur Scott Bailey
+
+Illustrator: Harry L. Smith
+
+Release Date: February 13, 2008 [EBook #24590]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF FERDINAND FROG ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Joe Longo, Emmy and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE TALE OF
+FERDINAND FROG
+
+
+
+
+SLEEPY-TIME TALES
+
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+  BY
+  ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
+
+AUTHOR OF TUCK-ME-IN TALES
+
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+        THE TALE OF CUFFY BEAR
+        THE TALE OF FRISKY SQUIRREL
+        THE TALE OF TOMMY FOX
+        THE TALE OF FATTY COON
+        THE TALE OF BILLY WOODCHUCK
+        THE TALE OF JIMMY RABBIT
+        THE TALE OF PETER MINK
+        THE TALE OF SANDY CHIPMUNK
+        THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER
+        THE TALE OF PADDY MUSKRAT
+        THE TALE OF FERDINAND FROG
+        THE TALE OF DICKIE DEER MOUSE
+
+[Illustration: Mr. Frog Bows to Aunt Polly Woodchuck]
+
+
+
+
+SLEEPY-TIME TALES (Trademark Registered)
+
+
+  THE TALE OF
+  FERDINAND
+  FROG
+
+  BY
+  ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
+
+Author of "TUCK-ME-IN TALES"
+
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+  ILLUSTRATED BY
+  HARRY L. SMITH
+
+  NEW YORK
+  GROSSET & DUNLAP
+  PUBLISHERS
+  Made in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+  Copyright, 1918,
+  by GROSSET & DUNLAP
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                   PAGE
+
+      I  PRETTY AS A PICTURE                9
+
+     II  THE DANGERS OF TRAVEL             14
+
+    III  MR. FROG'S DOUBLE                 19
+
+     IV  MR. CROW LOSES SOMETHING          25
+
+      V  MR. FROG'S SECRET SORROW          31
+
+     VI  TIRED TIM DOES A FAVOR            36
+
+    VII  THE SINGING-PARTY                 42
+
+   VIII  THE MISSING SUPPER                46
+
+     IX  THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER           51
+
+      X  CATCHING UP WITH MR. FROG         56
+
+     XI  MR. FROG IS IN NO HURRY           61
+
+    XII  A BAD BLUNDER                     66
+
+   XIII  A SIXTY-INCH MEAL                 71
+
+    XIV  AN UNPLEASANT MIX-UP              77
+
+     XV  EVERYONE IS HAPPY                 82
+
+    XVI  STOP THAT!                        87
+
+   XVII  A LONG, SHARP BILL                92
+
+  XVIII  MAKING BUTTON-HOLES               97
+
+    XIX  THE SWIMMING TEACHER             103
+
+     XX  DISTURBING THE NEIGHBORS         109
+
+    XXI  MUD BATHS                        114
+
+   XXII  HOLDING HIS BREATH               119
+
+  XXIII  MR. FROG RUNS AWAY               124
+
+
+
+
+THE TALE OF FERDINAND FROG
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+PRETTY AS A PICTURE
+
+
+There was something about Ferdinand Frog that made everybody smile. It
+may have been his amazingly wide mouth and his queer, bulging eyes, or
+perhaps it was his sprightly manner--for one never could tell when Mr.
+Frog would leap into the air, or turn a somersault backward. Indeed,
+some of his neighbors claimed that he himself didn't know what he was
+going to do next--he was so _jumpy_.
+
+Anyhow, all the wild folk in Pleasant Valley agreed that Ferdinand Frog
+was an agreeable person to have around. No matter what happened, he was
+always cheerful. Nobody ever heard of his losing his temper, though to
+be sure he was sometimes the means of other peoples losing theirs. But
+let a body be as angry as he pleased with Mr. Frog, Mr. Frog would
+continue to smile and smirk.
+
+Of course, such extreme cheerfulness often made angry folk only the more
+furious, especially when the whole trouble was Ferdinand Frog's own
+fault. But it made no difference to him what blunder he had made. He was
+always ready to make another--and smile at the same time.
+
+Really, he was so good-natured that nobody could feel peevish towards
+him for long. In fact, he was a great favorite--especially among the
+ladies. Whenever he met one of them--it might be the youngest of the
+Rabbit sisters, or old Aunt Polly Woodchuck--he never failed to make the
+lowest of bows, smile the broadest of smiles, and inquire after her
+health.
+
+That was Ferdinand Frog--known far and wide for his elegant manners.
+Every young lady declared that he wore exquisite clothes, too; and many
+of them secretly thought him quite good-looking.
+
+But people as old as Aunt Polly Woodchuck seldom take heed of what a
+person wears. As for Mr. Frog's looks, since Aunt Polly believed that
+"handsome is as handsome does," she admitted that Ferdinand Frog was--as
+she put it--"purty as a picter."
+
+When Ferdinand Frog heard that, he was so delighted that he hurried
+straight home and put on his best suit. And then he spent most of a
+whole afternoon smiling at his reflection in the surface of the Beaver
+pond, where he was living at the time.
+
+So it is easy to see that Ferdinand Frog was a vain and silly fellow. He
+was even foolish enough to repeat Aunt Polly's remark to everybody he
+chanced to meet that night, and the following day as well.
+
+There was no one who could help grinning at Ferdinand Frog's news--he
+looked so comical. And old Mr. Crow, who was noted for his rudeness,
+even burst out with a hoarse _haw-haw_.
+
+"You're pretty as a picture, eh?" he chuckled. "I suppose Aunt Polly
+means that you're as pretty as one of the pictures that the circus men
+have pasted on Farmer Green's barn. . . . I believe----" he added, as
+he stared at Ferdinand Frog----"I believe I know which one Aunt Polly
+means."
+
+"Is that so?" cried Mr. Frog, swelling himself up--through pride--until
+it seemed that he must burst. "Oh, which picture is it?"
+
+"It's the one in the upper left-hand corner," old Mr. Crow informed him
+solemnly. "And if you haven't yet seen it, you should take a good look
+at it soon."
+
+"I will!" Ferdinand Frog declared. "I'll visit Farmer Green's place this
+very night!"
+
+And he opened his mouth and smiled so widely that old Mr. Crow couldn't
+help shuddering--though he knew well enough that Ferdinand Frog could
+never swallow anyone as big as he was.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE DANGERS OF TRAVEL
+
+
+It was a long way to Farmer Green's from the Beaver pond where Ferdinand
+Frog made his home. But he felt that he simply _must_ see that picture
+which Mr. Crow said looked like him. So he started out just before
+sunset.
+
+One thing, at least, about his journey pleased him: he could make the
+trip by water--and he certainly did hate travelling on land.
+
+Luckily the stream that trickled its way below the Beaver dam led
+straight to Swift River. And everybody who knew anything was aware that
+Swift River ran right under the bridge not far from the farmhouse.
+
+So Mr. Frog leaped spryly into the brook and struck out downstream.
+
+He was a famous swimmer, having been used to the water from the time he
+was a tadpole. And now he swam so fast, with the help of the current,
+that he reached the river by the time the moon was up.
+
+As he looked up at the sky Ferdinand Frog was both glad and sorry that
+there was a moon that night. The moon would be a good thing, provided he
+reached the end of his journey, for it would give him a fine clear view
+of the picture on the barn, which he so much wanted to see. On the other
+hand, he would have preferred a dark night for a swim in Swift River.
+There were fish there--pickerel--which would rather swallow him than
+not. And he knew that they were sure to be feeding by the light of the
+moon.
+
+If Mr. Frog hadn't always looked on the bright side of life no doubt he
+would have waited a week or two, until there was no moon at all. But he
+remarked to himself with a grin, as he hurried along, that he had never
+yet seen the pickerel that was quick enough to catch him, and
+furthermore, he never expected to.
+
+But those words were hardly out of Ferdinand Frog's mouth when he turned
+and made for the bank as fast as he could go. He had caught sight of a
+dark, long-nosed fish lying among some weeds. And he decided suddenly
+that he would finish his journey by land.
+
+"It would be a shame----" he told himself, as he flopped up the steep
+bank----"it would be a shame for so handsome a person as I am to be
+eaten by a fish."
+
+"But you wouldn't object to a bird, would you?" said a voice right in
+Ferdinand Frog's ear--or so it seemed to him.
+
+He made no answer--not even stopping to bow, or say good evening--but
+turned a somersault backward and hid himself under the overhanging bank.
+
+It was Solomon Owl who had spoken to him. There was no mistaking the
+loud, mocking laughter that followed Mr. Frog's hasty retreat.
+
+"Solomon Owl is a great joker," Mr. Frog murmured with a smile. "He was
+only teasing me. . . . Still, he might be a bit hungry. So I'll stay here
+out of harm's way for a while, for it would be a shame for so handsome a
+person as I am to be eaten by an old, rascally bird like Solomon Owl."
+
+One can judge, just by that remark, that Ferdinand Frog was not quite so
+polite as his neighbors supposed--_when there was no one to hear what he
+said_.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+MR. FROG'S DOUBLE
+
+
+Mr. Frog waited until it was broad daylight before he left his hiding
+place beneath the bank of the river. He knew that by that time Solomon
+Owl must have gone home to his hemlock tree to get his rest. So
+Ferdinand Frog felt quite safe again.
+
+Having made up his mind that he would finish his journey to Farmer
+Green's place by land, he started briskly across the cornfield,
+travelling in a straight line between two rows of young corn.
+
+He had not gone far before a hoarse voice called to him. But this time
+he was not alarmed.
+
+It was only old Mr. Crow, who seemed greatly pleased to see him.
+
+"Hullo, young fellow!" said Mr. Crow. "If you're on your way to the barn
+to look at that picture, I'll fly over there myself, because I'd like to
+see it again."
+
+"Aren't you afraid of meeting Farmer Green?" Ferdinand Frog asked him.
+
+"Afraid?" Mr. Crow snorted. "Certainly not! We're the best of friends.
+He set up this straw man here, just to keep me company. . . . Besides,"
+he went on, "at this time o' day Farmer Green is inside the barn, milking
+the cows. And we'll be outside it, looking at the circus pictures."
+
+"We can call to him, if you want to say good morning to him," Ferdinand
+Frog suggested cheerfully.
+
+"Oh, no!" his companion said quickly. "I wouldn't want to do that--he's
+so busy."
+
+Ferdinand Frog smiled. And for some reason old Mr. Crow seemed
+displeased.
+
+"What's the joke?" he inquired in a surly tone. "Something seems to
+amuse you. Why are you grinning?"
+
+"It's just a habit I have," Ferdinand Frog explained.
+
+"I'd try to break myself of that habit, if I were you," Mr. Crow advised
+him. "Some day it will get you into trouble, for you're likely to grin
+when you oughtn't to. There's a wrong time and a right time for
+everything, you know."
+
+"Just as there is for planting corn," Mr. Frog chimed in.
+
+"Exactly!" Mr. Crow returned.
+
+"And for eating it!" Mr. Frog added.
+
+But old Mr. Crow only said hastily that he would be at the barn by the
+time Ferdinand reached it. And without another word he flapped himself
+away across the field.
+
+"He's a queer one," said Ferdinand Frog to himself. "It seems as if a
+person couldn't please him, no matter how much a person tried." Then he
+untied his necktie, and tied it again, because he thought one end of the
+bow was longer than the other; and that was something he couldn't
+endure.
+
+Then he resumed his jumping. And after exactly one hundred and
+thirty-two jumps he reached a corner of Farmer Green's great barn, where
+he found old Mr. Crow waiting for him.
+
+"Still smiling, I see," the old gentleman observed gruffly. "Maybe
+you'll laugh out of the other corner of your mouth after you've seen
+the pretty picture that you look like."
+
+"I hope so! Where is it?" Ferdinand Frog asked him eagerly. "Show me the
+pretty one!"
+
+"Come with me!" said old Mr. Crow. And he led the way around the barn,
+stopping before the side that faced the road.
+
+"There!" he cried. "It's in the upper left-hand corner, just as I told
+you." And he chuckled as loud as he dared--with Farmer Green inside the
+building, milking the cows.
+
+As Ferdinand Frog gazed upward a shadow of disappointment came over his
+face. And for once he did not smile.
+
+"Do I look like that?" he faltered.
+
+"You certainly do," old Mr. Crow assured him. "See those eyes--don't
+they bulge just like yours? And look at that mouth! It's fully as wide
+as yours--and maybe a trifle wider!"
+
+"The face does look a bit like mine, I'll admit," Ferdinand Frog
+muttered. "But no one could ever mistake one of us for the other. . . .
+What's the name of this creature?"
+
+"It's called the _hippopotamus_," old Mr. Crow replied. "I heard Johnnie
+Green say so. And he ought to know, if anyone does."
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+MR. CROW LOSES SOMETHING
+
+
+The picture of the hippopotamus on Farmer Green's barn did not please
+Ferdinand Frog. But in a few moments he began to smile again.
+
+"You've made a mistake," he told old Mr. Crow with a snicker. "When Aunt
+Polly Woodchuck said I was as pretty as a picture she never could have
+had this one in mind."
+
+"Why not?" Mr. Crow inquired. "The eyes and the mouth----"
+
+"Yes! Yes--I know!" Ferdinand interrupted. "But this creature has a
+tail! And tails are terribly out of fashion. I haven't worn one since I
+was a tadpole."
+
+That was enough for old Mr. Crow. _He_ had a tail----or tail feathers,
+at least. And he at once flew into a terrible rage.
+
+"You've insulted me!" he shouted.
+
+Ferdinand Frog knew then that he had blundered. So he hastened to mend
+matters.
+
+"There, there!" he said in a soothing tone. "Having a tail is not so
+bad, after all; for you can always cut it off, if you want to be in
+style." And he was surprised to find that his remark only made Mr. Crow
+angrier than ever.
+
+[Illustration: Old Mr. Crow Plays a Joke on Mr. Frog]
+
+"Cut off my tail, indeed!" the old gentleman snorted. "I'd be a pretty
+sight, if I did. Why, I wouldn't part with a single tail-feather, on any
+account." He continued to scold Ferdinand Frog at the top of his lungs,
+telling him that he was a silly fellow, and that nobody--unless it
+was a few foolish young creatures--thought he was the least bit
+handsome.
+
+Now, old Mr. Crow was in such a temper that he forgot that Farmer Green
+was inside the barn. And he made so much noise that Farmer Green heard
+him and peeped around the corner of the barn to see what was going on.
+
+A moment later the old shot-gun went off with a terrific roar. Ferdinand
+Frog saw Mr. Crow spring up and go tearing off towards the woods. And a
+long, black tail-feather floated slowly down out of the air and settled
+on the ground near the place where Mr. Crow had been standing.
+
+After shaking his fist in Mr. Crow's direction, Farmer Green
+disappeared.
+
+"That's a pity," Mr. Frog thought. "Mr. Crow has parted with one of his
+tail-feathers. And I must find him as soon as I can and tell him how
+sorry I am."
+
+Then Mr. Frog turned to look at the other pictures, which covered the
+whole side of the big barn. He beheld many strange creatures--some with
+necks of enormous length, some with humps on their backs, and all of
+them of amazing colors.
+
+But whether they were ringed, streaked or striped, not one of them
+was--in Mr. Frog's opinion--one-half as beautiful as the hippopotamus.
+
+"Even he----" Mr. Frog decided----"even he couldn't be called half as
+handsome as I am. For once old Mr. Crow certainly was mistaken."
+
+And he began to laugh. And while he was laughing, Farmer Green came out
+of the barn with a pail of milk in each hand.
+
+Then Ferdinand Frog had a happy thought. Why not ask Farmer Green to
+shoot off the tail of the hippopotamus? The loss of that ugly tail would
+improve the creature's looks, and make him appear still more like Mr.
+Frog himself.
+
+At least, that was Mr. Frog's own opinion.
+
+And he called to Farmer Green and suggested to him that he step out
+behind the barn and take a shot at the tail of the hippopotamus.
+
+"Try your luck!" Mr. Frog coaxed. "It's plain to see that you need
+practice, or you'd have made Mr. Crow part with all his tail-feathers,
+instead of only one." And he laughed harder than ever.
+
+But Farmer Green paid little heed to Ferdinand Frog's wheedling,
+although he did smile and say:
+
+"I declare, I believe that bull frog's jeering at me because I missed
+the old crow!"
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+MR. FROG'S SECRET SORROW
+
+
+Ferdinand Frog always looked so cheerful that no one ever suspected that
+he had a secret sorrow. But it is true, nevertheless, that something
+troubled him, though he took great pains not to let a single one of his
+neighbors know that anything grieved him.
+
+His trouble was simply this: he had never been invited to attend the
+singing-parties which the Frog family held almost every evening in Cedar
+Swamp.
+
+Now, Ferdinand Frog loved to sing at night.
+
+Indeed, he liked nothing better than to go to the lake not far from the
+Beaver dam and practice his songs among the lily pads near the shore. He
+had a deep, powerful bass voice, which one could hear a mile or more
+across the water on a still evening.
+
+Often he dressed himself with the greatest care and went to the lake
+alone, where he stayed half the night and sang so loudly that a good
+many of the wild folk who lived in the neighborhood thought him a great
+nuisance. Not caring for music, they objected to being forced to listen
+to Ferdinand Frog's favorite songs.
+
+"Why don't you go over to Cedar Swamp, if you want to make a noise?" one
+of the Beaver family who was known as Tired Tim asked Mr. Frog one
+evening. "You have come here for nine nights running; and your racket
+has upset me so that I haven't done a stroke of work in all this time."
+
+Mr. Frog had puffed himself up and had just opened his mouth to begin a
+new song. But upon being spoken to so rudely he closed his mouth quickly
+and swallowed several times. For just a second or two he was speechless,
+he was so surprised. And then presently he began to giggle.
+
+"I believe you," he said. "I believe that you haven't done a stroke of
+work for ninety nights." He knew--as did everybody else--that Tired Tim
+was the laziest person for miles around.
+
+"I said nine--not ninety," Tired Tim corrected him.
+
+"Oh! My mistake!" Mr. Frog replied.
+
+"You haven't answered my question," Tired Tim reminded him with a wide
+yawn. "I asked you why you didn't attend the singing-parties over in
+Cedar Swamp. You could croak your head off there and no one would stop
+you."
+
+But Mr. Frog shook his head. And at the same time, he sighed.
+
+"No!" he said. "I'd rather sing here on the border of the lake. The
+trouble is, _I sing too well_ for those fellows over in Cedar Swamp."
+
+"Why don't you join them and teach them how to sing, if you know so much
+about it?" Tired Tim persisted.
+
+"Oh, I've no time for that," Ferdinand Frog answered.
+
+And then it was his companion's turn to snicker.
+
+"You appear to have plenty of time to waste here," he observed. "It's my
+opinion that there's just one reason why you don't go to the Cedar Swamp
+singing parties."
+
+"What's that?" Mr. Frog inquired with a slight trace of uneasiness.
+
+"They haven't invited you."
+
+"How did you guess that?" Ferdinand Frog asked him.
+
+He wished, the next moment, that he had not put that question to Tired
+Tim. For he saw at once that he had given his sad secret away.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+TIRED TIM DOES A FAVOR
+
+
+In spite of all Ferdinand Frog's teasing, Tired Tim Beaver refused to
+explain how he happened to know Mr. Frog's secret.
+
+To tell the truth, he had _guessed_ the reason why Mr. Frog did not
+attend the Cedar Swamp singing-parties. But he hoped that Ferdinand Frog
+would think that some of the musical Frog family had been talking to
+him. And he even hinted to Mr. Frog that maybe it would be possible to
+get him an invitation to the singing-parties.
+
+"Do you think you could do that?" Ferdinand Frog asked him with, great
+eagerness.
+
+"I _might_ be able to; but it wouldn't be an easy matter," Tired Tim
+replied. "And I'd expect you to do something for me, if I went to so
+much trouble on your account."
+
+"I'll do _anything_ for you, in return for an invitation to the Cedar
+Swamp singing-parties," Ferdinand Frog declared.
+
+"Very well!" Tired Tim told him. "I'll go right over to the swamp now.
+And when I tell 'em a few things, I know they'll want you to join 'em."
+
+Ferdinand Frog felt so gay that he stood on his head and waved his feet
+in the air.
+
+"Let's meet here to-morrow night," he suggested.
+
+But Tired Tim objected to that plan.
+
+"You would be hanging about this place--and singing--for four-and-twenty
+hours," he grumbled. "It will be a great deal better if we meet on the
+edge of the swamp."
+
+"Just as you wish!" Ferdinand Frog exclaimed. "And since you're going to
+Cedar Swamp, I'll hop along with you, to keep you company."
+
+"You forget----" said Tired Tim Beaver----"you forget that you haven't
+been invited yet."
+
+"Have you?" Mr. Frog inquired.
+
+"Certainly!" said Tired Tim. And grinning over his shoulder, he swam
+away.
+
+Mr. Frog watched his friend from the shore.
+
+"He can't fool me," he muttered. "Tired Tim _invited himself_. And I've
+been stupid not to do likewise."
+
+On the following night Ferdinand Frog went to the edge of Cedar Swamp,
+where he waited somewhat impatiently on a log until Tired Tim Beaver
+joined him.
+
+"Well!" Mr. Frog cried. "I'm glad to see you and I hope you've brought
+my invitation."
+
+But Tired Tim wouldn't say yes or no.
+
+"If I succeed in getting you into the Cedar Swamp singing-parties will
+you promise me that you won't sing any more around the lake, or near our
+pond, either?" he demanded.
+
+Ferdinand Frog gave his solemn promise.
+
+"Very well, then!" Tired Tim said. "Go along over to the swamp. They're
+expecting you."
+
+When he heard the good news Ferdinand Frog was so delighted that he
+leaped into the air and kicked his heels together.
+
+And then forgetting his solemn promise, he began to bellow at the top of
+his voice:
+
+        "To Cedar Swamp I'll haste away;
+           Though first I'll sing a song.
+         My voice I must not waste to-day,
+           So I'll not keep you long.
+         I simply want to let you know
+           I'm much obliged, before I go."
+
+"Don't mention it!" said Tired Tim.
+
+"Don't interrupt me, please!" said Ferdinand Frog. "I haven't finished
+thanking you yet. That's only the first verse."
+
+"How many more are there?" Tired Tim inquired with a yawn.
+
+"Ninety-nine!" Mr. Frog answered. And he was somewhat surprised--and
+puzzled--when Tired Tim left him suddenly and plunged into the
+underbrush.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+THE SINGING-PARTY
+
+
+Ferdinand Frog lost no time, after Tired Tim left him. He jumped into
+the swamp and made straight towards the very middle of it, whence he
+could already hear the chorus of the numerous Frog family; for the
+singing-party had begun.
+
+Mr. Frog made all haste, not wishing to miss any more of the fun. Now
+swimming, now leaping from one hummock to another--or sometimes to an
+old stump--he quickly reached the place where the Frog family were
+enjoying themselves.
+
+"Here he is!" several of the singers exclaimed as soon as Ferdinand
+Frog's head popped out of the water, in their midst.
+
+He saw at once that they had been expecting him; and he smiled and
+bowed--and waited for the company to stop singing and give him a warm
+greeting with their cold, damp hands. But except for those first few
+words, no one paid the slightest attention to the newcomer.
+
+In fact, nobody even took the trouble to nod to Ferdinand Frog--much
+less to shake hands with him and tell him that he was welcome.
+
+Meanwhile one song followed another with hardly a pause between them.
+And Mr. Frog found that he did not know the words of even one.
+
+He was so impatient that at last he climbed upon an old fallen
+tree-trunk, which stuck out of the greenish-black water, and began to
+roar his favorite song, while he beat time for the other singers. The
+name of that song was "A Frog on a Log in a Bog"; and Ferdinand Frog
+thought that he couldn't have chosen another so fitting.
+
+But the rest of the singing-party had other ideas. They turned about and
+scowled at Mr. Frog as if he had done something most unpleasant.
+
+"Stop! Stop!" several of them cried. And an important-looking fellow
+near him shouted, "Don't sing that, for pity's sake!"
+
+"Why not?" Ferdinand Frog faltered. "What's the matter with my song?
+It's my special favorite, which I sing at least fifty times each night,
+regularly."
+
+"It's old stuff," the other told him with a sneer. "We haven't sung that
+for a year, at least."
+
+Ferdinand Frog did not try to argue with him. But as soon as he saw
+another chance he began a different ditty.
+
+Then a loud groan arose. And somebody stopped him again. And Mr. Frog
+soon learned that they hadn't sung that one for a year and a half.
+
+Though he tried again and again, he had no better luck. But he kept
+smiling bravely. And finally he asked the company in a loud voice if he
+"wasn't going to have a chance."
+
+"Certainly!" a number of the singers assured him. "Your chance is coming
+later. We shan't forget you."
+
+And that made Ferdinand Frog feel better. He told himself that he could
+wait patiently for a time--if it wasn't too long.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+THE MISSING SUPPER
+
+
+Ferdinand Frog had begun to feel uneasy again. He was afraid that the
+singers had forgotten their promise to him. But at last they suddenly
+started a rousing song which made him take heart again.
+
+They roared out the chorus in a joyful way which left no doubt in his
+mind that his chance was at hand:
+
+        "Now that the concert is ended
+           We'll sit at the banquet and feast.
+         Now that the singing's suspended
+           We'll dine till it's gray in the east."
+
+Mr. Frog only hoped that the company did not expect him to sing to them
+_all_ the time while they were banqueting.
+
+"They needn't think--" he murmured under his breath--"they needn't think
+I don't like good things to eat as well as they do." But he let no one
+see that he was worried. That was Ferdinand Frog's way: almost always he
+managed to smile, no matter how things went.
+
+When the last echoes of the song had died away a great hubbub arose.
+Everybody crowded around Mr. Frog. And there were cries of "Now! Now!"
+
+He thought, of course, that they wanted to hear him sing. So he started
+once more to sing his favorite song. But they stopped him quickly.
+
+"We've finished the songs for to-night," they told him. "We're ready for
+the supper now. . . . Where is it?"
+
+"Supper?" Mr. Frog faltered, as his jaw dropped. "What supper?"
+
+"The supper you're going to give us!" the whole company shouted. "You
+know--don't you?--that we have just made a rule for new members: they're
+to furnish a banquet."
+
+Ferdinand Frog's eyes seemed to bulge further out of his head than ever.
+
+"I--I never heard of this before!" he stammered.
+
+"Didn't Tired Tim tell you about our new rule?" somebody inquired. "It
+was his own idea."
+
+"He never said a word to me about it!" Ferdinand Frog declared with a
+loud laugh. "And I can't give you a supper, for I haven't one ready."
+
+"Then we'll postpone it until to-morrow night," the company told him
+hopefully.
+
+"What does your rule say?" Ferdinand Frog rolled his eyes as he put the
+question to them.
+
+"It says that the banquet must take place the first night the new member
+is present," a fat gentleman replied.
+
+"Then I can't give you any food to-morrow night," Mr. Frog informed
+them, "because it would be against the rule."
+
+"Then you can't be a member!" a hundred voices croaked.
+
+"I _am_ one now," Ferdinand Frog replied happily. "And what's more, I
+don't see how you can keep me out of your singing-parties."
+
+There was silence for a time.
+
+"We've been sold," some one said at last. "We've no rule to prevent this
+fellow from coming here. And the worst of it is, as everybody knows, his
+voice is so loud it will spoil all our songs."
+
+Oddly enough, the speaker was the very one who had always objected to
+inviting Ferdinand Frog to join the singing parties. His own voice had
+always been the loudest in the whole company. And naturally he did not
+want anybody with a louder one to come and drown his best notes.
+
+But now he couldn't help himself. And thereafter when the singers met in
+Cedar Swamp he always turned greener in the face than ever and looked as
+if he were about to burst, when Ferdinand Frog opened his mouth its
+widest and let his voice rumble forth into the night.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER
+
+
+When Ferdinand Frog first came to the Beaver pond to live no one knew
+anything about him.
+
+He appeared suddenly--no one knew whence--and at once made himself very
+much at home. It was no time at all before he could call every one of
+the big Beaver family by name. And he acted exactly as if the pond
+belonged to him, instead of to the Beavers, whose great-grandfathers had
+dammed the stream many years before.
+
+But the newcomer was so polite that nobody cared to send him away. At
+the same time, people couldn't help wondering who the stranger was and
+where he had come from and what his plans for the future were. Whenever
+two or three Beavers stopped working long enough to enjoy a pleasant
+chat, they were sure to talk of the mysterious Mr. Frog and tell one
+another what they thought of him. Many were the tales told about the
+nimble fellow.
+
+Some said that he had moved all the way from Farmer Green's duck pond,
+because Johnnie Green had tried to catch him; while others declared that
+Ferdinand Frog was a famous singer, who had come to that quiet spot in
+order to rest his voice, which had become harsh from too much use.
+Indeed, there were so many stories about the stranger that it was hard
+to know which to believe--especially after old Mr. Crow informed
+Brownie Beaver that in his opinion Ferdinand Frog was a slippery fellow.
+"I shouldn't be surprised----" Mr. Crow had said with a wise wag of his
+head----"I shouldn't be surprised if his real name was Ferdinand Fraud."
+
+Anyhow, there was one thing that almost all the Beaver colony agreed
+upon. They were of one opinion as to Mr. Frog's clothes, which they
+thought must be very fashionable, because they were like no others that
+had ever been seen before in those parts.
+
+There was one young gentleman, however--the beau of the village--who
+disputed everybody, saying that he believed that Ferdinand Frog must be
+wearing old clothes that were many years behind the times.
+
+Now, there was one lazy Beaver known as Tired Tim who had nothing better
+to do than to go straight to Mr. Frog and repeat what he heard.
+
+To Tired Tim's surprise--for he had expected Mr. Frog to lose his
+temper--to his surprise that gentleman appeared much amused by the bit
+of gossip. He shook with silent laughter for a time, quite as if he were
+saving his voice to use that evening. And then he said:
+
+"So your young friend thinks I'm not in style, eh? . . . Well, I'll tell
+you something: he's right, in a way. And in another way he isn't. The
+reason why I'm not in style is because I always aim to keep five years
+ahead of everybody else.
+
+"Five years from now and your neighbors will all be wearing clothes like
+mine."
+
+"Can't we ever catch up with you?" Tired Tim asked him.
+
+"There's only one way you can do that," was Mr. Frog's mysterious
+answer.
+
+And he would say no more.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+CATCHING UP WITH MR. FROG
+
+
+Tired Tim Beaver asked Mr. Frog point-blank how a person might catch up
+with him in the matter of clothes.
+
+"If you manage to dress in a style that's five years ahead of the times,
+I should like to know the way to be just as fashionable," Tired Tim
+said.
+
+But he got no help--then--from Mr. Frog. All Ferdinand Frog would say
+was that he'd be glad to oblige a friend, but he couldn't--and
+wouldn't--be hurried.
+
+And though the unhappy, eager Tim teased and begged him to tell his
+secret, Mr. Frog only smiled the more cheerfully and said nothing.
+
+It was maddening--for Tired Tim--though Mr. Frog seemed to be enjoying
+himself hugely. And the result was that Tired Tim Beaver returned to the
+village in the pond in a terrible state of mind. Since he told everyone
+else what he had learned about Ferdinand Frog and his clothes, it was
+only a short time before the whole Beaver family was so stirred up that
+they couldn't do a stroke of work. Ferdinand Frog was in everybody's
+mouth, so to speak. And at last old Grandaddy Beaver hit upon a plan.
+
+"Why don't you get somebody to make you a suit exactly like Mr. Frog's?"
+he asked Tired Tim.
+
+So Tired Tim took Grandaddy's advice. That very night he disappeared, to
+swagger back in a few days in a costume that made him appear almost
+like Mr. Frog's twin brother--if one didn't look at his face. And there
+were some among the villagers who even declared that Tired Tim's mouth
+seemed wider than it had been, and more like Mr. Frog's.
+
+When they asked Tired Tim if his tailor hadn't stretched his mouth for
+him he replied no, that he had been smiling a good deal for a day or
+two, and perhaps that was what made his mouth look different.
+
+Well, the whole Beaver village was delighted with Tired Tim's new suit.
+
+"Wait till Mr. Frog sees you!" people cried. "He'll be _so_ surprised!"
+
+[Illustration: Mr. Frog Liked to Hear Himself Sing]
+
+And somebody swam away in great haste to find Mr. Frog and ask him to
+come to the lower end of the pond, where all the houses were. But when
+Ferdinand Frog arrived, everybody was disappointed, and especially
+Tired Tim, who had felt very proud in his gorgeous new clothes. For he
+saw at once that Mr. Frog was arrayed from head to foot in an entirely
+new outfit. He looked almost like a rainbow, so brilliant were the
+colors of his costume.
+
+At the same time Tired Tim put on as brave a front as he could. And
+drawing near to Mr. Frog, he said:
+
+"What do you think of my new suit?"
+
+Ferdinand Frog looked at him as if he hadn't noticed him before.
+
+"Your suit's all right," he replied, "for one who isn't particular. But
+it's not far enough ahead of the times for me. . . . I'd hate to be caught
+wearing it."
+
+It was a bitter blow for Tired Tim Beaver. In fact, he felt more tired
+than ever; and he sank to the bottom of the pond to rest, where his
+friends couldn't see him.
+
+As for the other members of the Beaver family, they all went home with a
+great longing inside them. There wasn't a single one of them that wasn't
+eager to wear clothes exactly as far ahead of the times as were those of
+the elegant stranger, Ferdinand Frog.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+FERDINAND FROG IS IN NO HURRY
+
+
+Although everybody in the Beaver village looked worried, Mr. Frog seemed
+to be all the more cheerful. He knew well enough that there was hardly
+one Beaver in the pond that didn't wish and long for clothes which were,
+like Mr. Frog's, five years ahead of the times.
+
+As day after day passed, not only were the Beavers unable to do a single
+stroke of work; they were so upset that they could scarcely eat or
+sleep. And at last the older villagers, such as Grandaddy Beaver, began
+to see that something would have to be done. There was the dam, which
+needed mending; and there was the winter's food, which had to be
+gathered.
+
+So Grandaddy Beaver went to Ferdinand Frog one day and told him that he
+simply _must_ come to the rescue of the pond folk, and tell them how
+they might have clothes as far ahead of the times as were his own.
+
+"Why?" Mr. Frog inquired. "What's the trouble?"
+
+"They can't work," Grandaddy Beaver told him. "And there's the dam to be
+fixed, and tree-tops to be cut and stored for food, because winter's
+a-coming, and there's no way we can stop it."
+
+"I'll tell you what you and your people can do," Ferdinand Frog replied.
+"Just bury yourselves in the mud during the winter, as I do, and you'd
+have no use for a dam, nor for food, either."
+
+But Grandaddy Beaver explained that though such a plan might suit a Frog
+exceedingly well, for a Beaver it would never do at all.
+
+"You have got us into this scrape," he told Mr. Frog, "so it's only fair
+that you should help us out of it."
+
+Ferdinand Frog then did a number of things, all of which were intended
+to let Grandaddy Beaver see that what he asked couldn't be done. Mr.
+Frog held up his hands with the palms out and rolled his eyes; he shut
+his great mouth together as if he did not intend to say another word. He
+looked so determined that Grandaddy Beaver's heart sank.
+
+And then--when Grandaddy Beaver had almost given up all hope--then Mr.
+Frog said suddenly:
+
+"I'll consent to help you, because I see that it's my duty."
+
+"Good!" Grandaddy Beaver cried. "I told people that I knew you'd come to
+our rescue, for you have such a kind face! . . .
+
+"And now, tell me!" he bade Ferdinand Frog with great eagerness, while
+he held a hand behind one of his ears, in order to hear more clearly.
+
+But Mr. Frog was not ready to give away his secret.
+
+He winked at Grandaddy Beaver, and poked his fingers into the old
+gentleman's ribs.
+
+"Not so fast, my lad!" said Mr. Frog, who was certainly many years
+younger than Grandaddy Beaver. "I'm not prepared to explain everything
+to you just yet.
+
+"You come to the big rock on the other side of the pond as soon as it's
+dark to-night; and bring with you everybody who wants to know how to
+get clothes like mine.
+
+"Now, do exactly as I say," Mr. Frog cautioned Grandaddy, "and
+_everything will be made easy_."
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+A BAD BLUNDER
+
+
+When it was almost dark Grandaddy Beaver swam across the pond to the big
+rock, where Ferdinand Frog had told him to come.
+
+And trooping after Daddy was almost everybody in the village. Not
+counting the women and children, there were eleven of them. They climbed
+upon the rock, looking for Mr. Frog. But he was nowhere in sight.
+
+"He'll be here in a minute or two, probably," Grandaddy Beaver said
+hopefully, for all he looked a bit anxious.
+
+Then somebody spied a neat building near-by, which not one of them had
+noticed before.
+
+"What's this strange house?" people asked one another. "Is this where
+Mr. Frog lives?"
+
+But nobody seemed to know the answer to that question.
+
+"It can't be a shop," Grandaddy decided, "for there's no sign on it. And
+nobody would have a shop without a sign."
+
+Now, the door of the little building was shut and fastened. And the
+window-shades were pulled carefully down. It certainly looked as if
+nobody was at home.
+
+But suddenly there came a sound that made the Beaver family jump. It
+came from the house--there was no doubt of that.
+
+In fact it came right through the keyhole; and it was like nothing in
+the world but a sneeze.
+
+A number of people were all ready to jump into the water and swim away,
+they were so startled.
+
+And then a snicker followed the sneeze. And by that time Grandaddy
+Beaver and his friends guessed who was inside the building. It was
+Ferdinand Frog; and he had been watching his callers all the time,
+through the keyhole, and listening to everything that they said.
+
+A few felt slightly uneasy, as they tried to remember exactly what
+remarks they had made about Mr. Frog himself.
+
+"Come out!" they all cried, as soon as they had recovered from their
+surprise. "We want to see you!" And they formed a half-circle in the
+dooryard.
+
+Presently the door swung out, as if somebody had pushed it open. And
+there, on the _inside_ of the open door, which was flung back against
+the outside of the building, they all saw a sign, which said:
+
+         MR. FERDINAND FROG
+        UNFASHIONABLE TAILOR
+          ALL THE STYLES
+         FIVE YEARS AHEAD
+          OF THE TIMES
+
+People began exclaiming that that was just like Ferdinand Frog--who was
+an odd fellow--to have his sign painted on the inside of his door
+instead of on the outside.
+
+"It'll be all the style five years from now," he retorted.
+
+So that was Mr. Frog's secret! He was a tailor himself! And there he
+was, ready to make clothes for all of them!
+
+It was almost too good to be true. But there he stood in the doorway,
+with a tape around his neck, smiling and bowing.
+
+"You'd better form in line!" he suggested. "You can come in through the
+front door. I'll measure you. And you can pass out the back way. . . .
+Don't crowd, please!"
+
+Now, that was just where Mr. Frog made a great blunder. But he didn't
+find it out till it was too late.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+A SIXTY-INCH MEAL
+
+
+Mr. Frog's scheme of measuring the Beaver family for new suits had just
+one drawback; the Beaver family liked it too well. So pleased were they
+over the prospect of having "unfashionable" clothes like Mr. Frog's at
+last that all of them wanted to be measured not once but several times.
+And each and every one, as soon as Mr. Frog had taken his measurements,
+went out through the back door and slipped around the little building,
+to wait again at the foot of the line.
+
+Now, Mr. Frog was a spry worker. He passed his tape around his
+customers and jotted down figures on flat, black stones as fast as he
+could make his fingers fly. And if it hadn't been for just one thing
+Ferdinand Frog would have been quite happy. But beginning with his first
+customer, he was somewhat troubled; for in the whole company he found
+not one who had brought his pocket-book with him.
+
+"What's the matter?" he asked Grandaddy Beaver, when the old gentleman's
+turn came. "Didn't you tell 'em what I said about pocket-books?"
+
+"I certainly did!" Grandaddy replied. "I told them to be sure to leave
+their pocket-books at home."
+
+Mr. Frog gulped once or twice, as if he were swallowing something
+unpleasant. And he looked most surprised.
+
+"Why, that's exactly wrong!" he cried.
+
+"Is that so?" Grandaddy Beaver quavered. "Then I must have made a
+mistake. You know I'm a _leetle_ hard of hearing."
+
+"Never mind!" Ferdinand Frog answered, for he always took his troubles
+lightly. "Bring 'em when you come to have your clothes fitted and it'll
+be all right."
+
+So he worked on. But by and by he began to grow uneasy again. And now
+and then he paused and went to the window, where he peered somewhat
+anxiously at the Beavers who waited before his door in a long line.
+
+"It's queer!" Mr. Frog exclaimed aloud at last. "Here I've been
+measuring 'em for an hour and a half; and there's just as many of 'em
+left. . . . I'll have to stop soon," he continued, "for I'm going to
+a singing-party to-night. And I don't want to be late."
+
+His customers, however, wouldn't hear of his leaving. The moment Mr.
+Frog's remarks passed down the line, the Beaver family began to jostle
+and push one another. They crowded inside the tailor's shop.
+
+And to get rid of them, Mr. Frog worked faster than ever. So great was
+his haste that he measured everybody wrong; whereas before he had
+measured them correctly, while merely scratching wrong figures upon the
+stones.
+
+And finally he stopped suddenly. As Grandaddy Beaver stepped forward to
+be measured for the fourth time it dawned upon Mr. Frog that he had
+measured him several times already.
+
+But Ferdinand Frog said nothing at all.
+
+Holding one end of his tape in his mouth, he passed the other end
+around Grandaddy's plump body.
+
+All at once a cry of dismay came from the customers who were looking on
+while they waited.
+
+"He's swallowing the tape!" they cried, pointing to Mr. Frog.
+
+It was true. Beneath their horrified gaze the tape-measure disappeared
+little by little inside Mr. Frog's mouth. And before any of them could
+come to his senses and seize the end of the yellow strip, it had
+vanished from view completely.
+
+Of course they saw that the tailor could work no longer that evening. So
+they filed sadly out of the shop.
+
+"How did it happen?" they asked Mr. Frog, who was already locking his
+door.
+
+"The tape stuck to my tongue," he explained. "Everything does, you
+know. But it doesn't matter, because I was hungry. And now I feel
+better."
+
+So Mr. Frog reached the singing-party in time, after all.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+AN UNPLEASANT MIX-UP
+
+
+For a long time after he took the measurements of the Beaver family Mr.
+Frog kept carefully out of sight. Though several of the Beavers visited
+his shop every day, they always found the door locked and the shades
+drawn. But from various odd sounds--such as giggles and titters and
+snickers--which they heard by listening at the keyhole, they knew that
+the tailor was inside.
+
+To all their knocks and calls, however, Mr. Frog made no other response.
+He was working busily, and he did not want to be interrupted.
+
+At last, to the delight of everybody, a notice appeared one evening upon
+Mr. Frog's door, which said:
+
+        TO-MORROW WILL BE
+           FITTING-DAY
+
+Well, never was such excitement known in the Beaver family--unless it
+was when the great freshet came, and almost washed away the dam. And it
+was lucky there was no freshet upon Mr. Frog's fitting-day, for there
+would have been no one except the women and children to do any work.
+Some of the young dandies even spent the night right in front of Mr.
+Frog's tailor's shop, in order to be among the first to try on their new
+clothes, which were to be five years ahead of the times.
+
+When Mr. Frog opened his door bright and early the following morning he
+had to beg his eager customers to keep order.
+
+"There's a suit here for everybody," he announced. "But if you crowd
+into my shop I may get the garments mixed. And that would be terrible."
+
+So the Beaver gentlemen were as quiet and orderly as they could be. But
+as for Mr. Frog himself, he jumped around as if he were standing in a
+hot frying-pan. He hustled his customers into their suits in no time,
+assuring each one that his garments fitted him perfectly, and asking him
+please to step out through the back door and wait.
+
+By the time the last Beaver had on his new clothes, and Mr. Frog
+followed him into the back-yard, the tailor found that there was a
+frightful uproar outside. There wasn't one of the Beavers who didn't
+claim that there was something wrong about his new clothes. But whether
+sleeves, trousers or coat-tails were too short or too long, or whether
+they were too loose or too tight, Mr. Frog declared that they were
+exactly as they should be, because they were bound to be in style in
+five years' time, and nobody--so he said--could prove otherwise.
+
+Of course, the Beaver family was far from satisfied. Though they had
+what they had been wishing for, they couldn't help thinking that they
+looked very queer--as, indeed, they did.
+
+But Ferdinand Frog told the crowd that it was only because they weren't
+used to being dressed in that fashion. He said he certainly was pleased
+with their appearance and that he had never seen any company that looked
+the least bit like them.
+
+There was one Beaver, however, who shouted angrily that he knew his
+suit wasn't fashionable and that he wouldn't accept it.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+EVERYONE IS HAPPY
+
+
+Mr. Frog led the angry Beaver around to the front of his shop, while the
+others followed, and pointed to his sign.
+
+"There!" he said. "Don't you see that I _claim_ to be an unfashionable
+tailor? You'll have to keep that suit, and pay me for it, too. And so
+will everybody else."
+
+But the whole Beaver family cried out that they objected. "No one ever
+pays his tailor," they told Mr. Frog. "It's not the fashionable thing to
+do."
+
+Even then Ferdinand Frog continued to smile at them. He was such an
+agreeable chap!
+
+"I know it's not fashionable now," he admitted, "but it will be five
+years from now. And since it's my way to collect on delivery, I'll thank
+you to step up one at a time and pay me. . . . And please don't crowd!"
+he added.
+
+There was really no need of that last warning, because nobody made a
+move.
+
+Mr. Frog, however, was not dismayed. He leaped suddenly into the air and
+alighted directly in front of a Beaver known among his friends as Stingy
+Steve--the very one to whom Mr. Frog had just shown his sign.
+
+"Pay up, please!" Ferdinand Frog said.
+
+"How much do I owe you?" the uneasy Beaver asked him.
+
+"Sixty!" Mr. Frog told him, with a grin.
+
+Stingy Steve thrust his hand inside the pocket of his new trousers,
+from which he slowly drew one of Mr. Frog's tape-measures--of which the
+tailor had at least a dozen. Mr. Frog was always tucking them away in
+odd places.
+
+"Here!" Stingy Steve cried. "Here's your pay--sixty inches, neither more
+nor less!"
+
+But Ferdinand Frog only laughed and told him that he didn't mean
+_inches_. That, he explained, was no pay at all.
+
+"I know," Stingy Steve replied. "I know it's not the fashionable way to
+pay a bill at present. But it will be five years from now. And what's
+more, you can't prove that what I say isn't true."
+
+For a few moments Mr. Frog stood there gasping. And pretty soon he
+noticed that his customers were all busily picking up chips and sticks
+and pebbles. At first he thought they were going to throw them at him;
+and he was all ready to jump.
+
+But he soon found that he was mistaken.
+
+"Here! Here's your pay, Mr. Frog!" they began to cry. And to their
+astonishment Mr. Frog began to laugh.
+
+"I don't want any pay," he declared. "Will you all promise to wear your
+new clothes if I make them free?"
+
+"Yes! Yes! Yes!" sounded on all sides.
+
+"Then it's a bargain!" Ferdinand Frog shouted. And he leaped into the
+air and kicked his heels together three times.
+
+After that he turned a back somersault, and then he rolled over and over
+until he landed with a great splash in the pond.
+
+Deep down on the muddy bottom Mr. Frog laughed as if he could never
+stop. The Beavers on the bank could neither see nor hear him. And he
+knew there was no danger of their thinking him impolite, especially when
+he said:
+
+"They don't even know that I've played a trick on them! And what a
+terrible sight they are! I've never seen any company that looked the
+least bit like them."
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+STOP THAT!
+
+
+On a cool summer's morning Ferdinand Frog was sitting among the reeds
+near the bank of the pond when a harsh voice suddenly said:
+
+"Stop that!"
+
+Looking up, Mr. Frog saw a huge bird standing on one leg in the water,
+watching him. The stranger was actually so big that Mr. Frog hadn't
+noticed him.
+
+To be sure, he had seen what he thought was a stick stuck upright in the
+muddy bottom of the pond. That was really the stranger's leg; but Mr.
+Frog hadn't taken the trouble to glance upwards and see what was at the
+top of it.
+
+Of course, Mr. Frog was frightened as soon as he discovered his mistake,
+for the bird had a great, long bill. Without being told, Ferdinand Frog
+knew that that bill could open like a trap--and seize him, too. But he
+showed not the least sign that he was even disturbed.
+
+"Stop that, I say!" the stranger repeated, before Mr. Frog had so much
+as said a word.
+
+"Stop what?" Mr. Frog asked.
+
+"Stop sticking your tongue out at me!" the other commanded.
+
+In spite of his alarm, when he heard that Ferdinand Frog began to laugh.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, "but I think you are mistaken. I wasn't
+sticking my tongue out at you. I was only catching flies." Mr. Frog paid
+no attention to the sneering laugh that the stranger gave. "You see,"
+he went on, "I'm having my breakfast. And this is how I manage it: I
+wait here without moving until a fly comes my way. Then I dart my tongue
+at him as quick as lightning.
+
+"My tongue," Mr. Frog explained, "is fastened at the front of my mouth
+instead of at the back. So I can often reach a fly when he thinks he's
+perfectly safe. And furthermore, my tongue is so sticky that if it
+touches a fly, he can't get away. Then I swallow that one and wait for
+another."
+
+"A likely story!" the big bird scoffed. "I've been watching you for a
+long time (Mr. Frog shivered when he heard that!) and I know what I'm
+talking about. . . . There you go again!" he shrieked angrily, as
+Ferdinand Frog's tongue flew out and captured another fly so quickly
+that the stranger couldn't see just what had happened.
+
+"Listen to me a moment!" Mr. Frog said. "Like most people, I have to
+eat. And when I eat I can't help sticking out my tongue. So I'd suggest
+that if you don't care to watch me at my breakfast you'd better go away.
+It certainly isn't my fault that you're standing right in front of me."
+
+But the stranger declined to move.
+
+"If you really meant to be polite," he grumbled, "you'd at least turn
+your back when you stick out your tongue."
+
+But Mr. Frog never stirred. He was afraid that the moment he turned his
+back the big bird would pounce upon him.
+
+"It's not necessary for me to turn around now," he explained. "I've
+finished my breakfast. And I hope you've had yours, too."
+
+[Illustration: Grand-daddy Beaver Appeals to Mr. Frog]
+
+"I'm sorry to say that I have," the stranger answered with a sigh, as he
+looked longingly at plump Mr. Frog. "I couldn't eat another mouthful if
+it sat right in front of me."
+
+And then Ferdinand Frog felt as if a great weight had been lifted from
+his mind. He smiled all over his face, to show the stranger that he was
+glad to see him.
+
+"Ah!" Mr. Frog cried. "Then we can have a friendly chat together. I
+always like to talk with travellers. . . . What a long, sharp bill you
+have!"
+
+Now, some people would think that a rude remark. But it seemed to please
+the stranger immensely.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+A LONG, SHARP BILL
+
+
+Certainly it was an odd remark that Ferdinand Frog made about the
+stranger's wicked-looking bill. But knowing that its owner had eaten
+until he had no appetite left for the time being, Mr. Frog forgot his
+fear. And he couldn't help being curious about the big bird, because he
+had never seen another like him.
+
+Of course, what Mr. Frog said would have annoyed some people a good
+deal, for he had just the same as told the stranger that he had _a long,
+sharp nose_. But luckily it happened that the newcomer was very vain
+both of the length and the sharpness of his bill. So he liked Mr.
+Frog's comment. And he promptly forgot his displeasure over Mr. Frog's
+tongue.
+
+"Yes!" he said, in response to Ferdinand Frog's speech, "there isn't
+another bill like mine for twenty miles around--except my wife's."
+
+"You don't live in this neighborhood, do you?" Mr. Frog inquired.
+
+"My home is beyond the Second Mountain," the stranger informed him.
+
+And Ferdinand Frog was glad to hear that the huge fellow dwelt no
+nearer.
+
+"What's your name, friend?" Mr. Frog then asked.
+
+"My name----" the giant bird replied--"my name is G. B. Heron."
+
+"'G. B.'!" Mr. Frog exclaimed, turning a pale green color. "What do
+those letters stand for? Not Grizzly Bear, I hope!" He had heard
+of--but had never seen--a Grizzly Bear; and for a moment he thought that
+perhaps he had met one at last.
+
+But the stranger soon set his fresh fears at rest.
+
+"My full name," he told Mr. Frog, "is Great Blue Heron. But plain Mr.
+Heron will do, when you address me."
+
+"I hope I'll see you sooner the next time we meet," Mr. Frog said. And
+he resolved that he would keep a sharp eye out for Mr. Heron, so that he
+might have plenty of time to hide the moment he caught sight of him.
+
+"There's no doubt that we'll meet again," Mr. Heron replied. "I expect
+to come here to live. And I flew over here to-day to look about a
+bit. . . . Are there many in your family?"
+
+"No!" Mr. Frog hastened to answer. "There's only myself living in this
+pond."
+
+"But you must have plenty of relations somewhere," Mr. G. B. Heron
+insisted. "If I came here to live, and anything happened to you, I'd
+want to tell your family."
+
+"Well, I have a few relations, to be sure," Mr. Frog admitted. "But they
+don't amount to much. They're a stringy lot, I can tell you."
+
+Mr. Heron looked at him as if he couldn't quite believe that statement.
+
+"That's odd," he observed. "Now, you're nice and plump."
+
+"Oh, I'm _too_ fat," Ferdinand Frog said. "Aunt Polly Woodchuck tells me
+that if I get much fatter I'll lose my good looks."
+
+"I don't agree with her," said Mr. Heron. "You look good to me."
+
+And now it was Mr. Frog's turn to be pleased; for he was very vain.
+
+"I'm glad to hear it!" he cried. "And I'll tell you a secret: I've
+always been quite satisfied with myself until my eyes fell on you. Oh!
+if I only had such a bill as yours!"
+
+"You like my bill, then?" Mr. Heron asked him.
+
+"Yes!" Ferdinand Frog answered. "And it must be very handy, too."
+
+"What for?" Mr. Heron inquired.
+
+"Why, for making button-holes!" Ferdinand Frog exclaimed.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+MAKING BUTTON-HOLES
+
+
+Mr. Heron couldn't help being interested.
+
+"Button-holes in what?" he asked Ferdinand Frog.
+
+"Why, in suits of clothes, of course!" the tailor answered. "If you had
+a tailor's shop, as I have, you'd find that bill of yours a handy thing
+to have. When you wanted to make a button-hole in a piece of cloth all
+you'd need do would be to stick your bill through it."
+
+"I'd like to try that," Mr. Heron remarked.
+
+"Then come right over to my shop," Mr. Frog urged him. "I'll let you
+make all the button-holes you want."
+
+"Very well!" Mr. Heron agreed. "I'll make button-holes until I get
+hungry."
+
+"That's a good idea!" Mr. Frog cried. And his new friend smiled, for he
+thought the tailor must be very stupid. He intended to stay with Mr.
+Frog until he was hungry enough to eat him. And no one who wasn't
+dull-witted could have failed to grasp his plan.
+
+Well, they started off together; and they arrived shortly afterward at
+the tailor's shop.
+
+Observing that Mr. Heron was altogether too big to squeeze inside the
+tiny building, Mr. Frog entered it, to reappear soon with an armful of
+cloth.
+
+On this Mr. Frog proceeded to mark a row of dots. And then he hung the
+cloth upon some reeds.
+
+"There!" he announced. "Can you hit the mark?"
+
+"Certainly I can," Mr. Heron replied. And quick as lightning his sharp
+bill darted out and made a neat hole exactly where every dot had been.
+
+"Splendid! Perfect!" Mr. Frog exclaimed. And thereupon he brought forth
+more cloth.
+
+In a surprisingly short time Mr. Heron had made eighty-seven
+button-holes. But Mr. Frog noticed that beginning with the
+seventy-seventh button-hole the stranger's aim began to fail. He did not
+hit the dots quite squarely. And he seemed not to have his mind on his
+work.
+
+"What's the matter?" Mr. Frog inquired. "Are you getting tired?"
+
+"No--not tired," Mr. Heron told him.
+
+"Are your eyes troubling you?" the tailor asked him.
+
+"No--I can see well enough," Mr. Heron replied. "But I'm beginning to
+feel a bit faint. And I think I've made enough button-holes for one
+day."
+
+But Mr. Frog said that he had a special suit which he was making for
+somebody. And he begged Mr. Heron to make the button-holes in that too.
+
+Mr. Heron frowned. But presently he yielded, telling Mr. Frog to hurry,
+for he had another matter to attend to.
+
+So the tailor leaped into his shop once more. And for a few moments he
+was very busy, arranging another strip of cloth so that the stranger
+might make button-holes in it.
+
+When all was ready Mr. Heron stepped up to do his work. He was just
+about to strike, when he suddenly paused.
+
+"Who's going to have this suit?" he asked the tailor.
+
+"Mr. Fish Hawk," said the tailor. "Do you know him?"
+
+"I should say I did!" Mr. Heron cried. "And he's no friend of mine, I
+assure you. I only wish he was behind this cloth! I'd run my bill clean
+through him!"
+
+A cold, cruel glitter came into Mr. Heron's eyes. And when he struck, he
+struck with all his power, as if he were driving his wicked bill through
+Mr. Fish Hawk that very moment.
+
+He made only that one thrust. And he did not withdraw his bill, either.
+Instead he set up a terrible squawking and began to flounder about on
+the bank of the pond.
+
+"Help! Help!" he cried in a muffled voice.
+
+But Ferdinand Frog only smiled--and made no move to assist his new
+acquaintance. The truth of the matter was that he had hidden a block of
+wood behind the cloth, and Mr. Heron had driven his bill into it so far
+that he couldn't pull it out.
+
+With a loud chuckle Mr. Frog jumped into the water and swam away. And
+that very day he moved to Black Creek, without troubling himself to
+learn how Mr. Heron got himself out of his difficulty.
+
+But the tailor couldn't help thinking what a handy thing it would be to
+have a bill like Mr. Heron's.
+
+"He can even make button-holes in wood!" Mr. Frog exclaimed.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+THE SWIMMING TEACHER
+
+
+It surprised the wild folk in Pleasant Valley when they learned that Mr.
+Frog had forsaken the Beaver pond for a new home on the bank of Black
+Creek.
+
+When his friends asked him why he had moved Mr. Frog told them he had
+made up his mind that the pond was too damp for the good of his health.
+Besides, Black Creek was nearer Cedar Swamp, where the Frog family held
+their singing-parties.
+
+Of course, the real reason for Ferdinand Frog's change of scene was that
+he was afraid Mr. Heron might return to the Beaver pond some day, to
+look for him.
+
+And when that happened, Mr. Frog did not care to be there.
+
+In his new home, however, he felt quite at his ease. And he set out at
+once to make himself agreeable to his neighbors.
+
+The nearest of these were Long Bill Wren and his wife, who at that time
+chanced to have a family of five growing children.
+
+Mr. Frog took a great interest in the youngsters, who were already big
+enough to leave their ball-shaped home, which hung among the reeds, and
+hop about on the bank of the creek--and even fly a bit now and then.
+
+Quite often Mr. Frog stopped to look at Long Bill's children and tell
+their parents how handsome they were.
+
+"I suppose--" he said to their father one day----"I suppose you are
+going to teach them to swim?"
+
+Long Bill Wren hadn't thought of that. And he said quickly that he was
+afraid it wouldn't be safe.
+
+But Mr. Frog replied that it certainly wouldn't be safe not to, living
+as they did so close to the water.
+
+"They're liable to tumble in almost any day," he said. "I suppose you
+can swim, yourself?"
+
+"No!" Long Bill answered, looking somewhat worried. "I've never learned
+how."
+
+Mr. Frog appeared greatly surprised by his neighbor's reply.
+
+"Then I'd be glad to teach your children," he offered.
+
+"Swimming is a very simple matter. And when you're young is the time to
+learn. I began when I was a tadpole. And knowing how to swim has saved
+my life a good many times."
+
+Naturally the children were eager to have a lesson at once. And Long
+Bill Wren was about to yield to their teasing, when his wife happened to
+come flying home.
+
+"What's going on here?" she asked sharply, for she saw that something
+unusual was afoot.
+
+And when her husband explained Mr. Frog had kindly offered to teach the
+children to swim she cried, "The idea! I won't have it!"
+
+Long Bill Wren looked uncomfortable. He was afraid his wife had hurt Mr.
+Frog's feelings.
+
+But Mr. Frog smiled and bowed politely to Mrs. Wren.
+
+"Surely you're not afraid your children will drown in my care?" he
+cried.
+
+"No!" she told him. "The trouble is I'd be nervous, because one of my
+young brothers was eaten by a member of your family."
+
+Ferdinand Frog's face fell. But not for long.
+
+"I don't see how that could have come about," he declared. "It must have
+been an accident."
+
+"Perhaps!" Long Bill's wife replied. "Anyhow, I want no such accidents
+to happen to my children." And she looked sternly at her new neighbor.
+
+Mr. Frog glanced away uneasily.
+
+"I'm afraid," he observed, "you do not trust me. But I assure you I had
+no idea of eating any of your little ones. They'd be perfectly safe with
+me. Why, every one of them is so plump I'd never be able to decide which
+one to choose first!"
+
+He often wondered, afterward, why Mrs. Wren promptly called all her
+children into the house.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+DISTURBING THE NEIGHBORS
+
+
+It was no wonder that Long Bill Wren's wife did not care for Ferdinand
+Frog, after his blundering remark about her children.
+
+Though her husband often told her that Mr. Frog must have been merely
+joking, she insisted that he was not a safe person to have in the
+neighborhood.
+
+"That Mr. Frog certainly is a queer one," she said to her husband one
+day. "I was watching him this morning. And what do you suppose I saw him
+do?" Mrs. Wren did not wait for Long Bill to answer her question. "Mr.
+Frog actually pulled off his own skin!" she cackled nervously.
+
+"Cat-tails and pussy-willows!" Long Bill Wren exclaimed--which was his
+way of showing he was surprised. "Mr. Frog must be ill. Maybe I ought to
+go and tell Aunt Polly Woodchuck, the herb-doctor, and ask her to come
+over here at once."
+
+His wife, however, shook her head.
+
+"He can't be ill," she said.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"His appetite is still good," she explained. "I saw Mr. Frog swallow his
+skin after he had pulled it off. And it didn't seem to disagree with
+him. He went in swimming right afterwards."
+
+"Ah!" Long Bill exclaimed. "That's a very dangerous thing to do. At
+least, I've often heard Johnnie Green say that a boy ought not to go in
+the water sooner than a full hour after he has had a meal."
+
+"There he is now!" Mrs. Wren cried abruptly. "There's Mr. Frog!"
+
+Peeping out of the doorway on one side of his ball-shaped house, Long
+Bill could see Ferdinand Frog paddling about in Black Creek.
+
+While they were watching him, he sank before their eyes. And after a
+time they couldn't help feeling uneasy, because their odd neighbor did
+not show himself again.
+
+"I'm afraid----" Long Bill whispered at last----"I'm afraid he was taken
+with a cramp, for that's what you get by swimming too soon after a
+meal--so Johnnie Green says. . . . I'm glad now that we didn't let Mr.
+Frog teach our children to swim, because it's easy to see that he's a
+careless fellow."
+
+So worried were Long Bill and his wife over Mr. Frog's disappearance
+that they hurried out and told all their neighbors about it. And soon a
+crowd had gathered upon the bank of the creek, to watch the spot where
+Mr. Frog had vanished.
+
+They stayed there for a long time. But to their great alarm, their
+missing friend did not reappear.
+
+"I hope he's safe," old Mr. Turtle piped in his thin, quavering voice.
+"He's making a new suit for me; and I'd hate to have anything happen to
+him."
+
+"What's this--a party?" a voice called suddenly from under the bank. And
+then Mr. Frog himself, looking fine and fit, hopped up and stood before
+the company, with a broad grin on his face.
+
+"Where have you been?" they shouted. "We were worried about you."
+
+"Oh, I've been having a mud bath at the bottom of the creek," Mr. Frog
+told them. "Mud baths, you know, are very healthful. And I advise you
+all to try one."
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+MUD BATHS
+
+
+Though Mr. Frog agreed cheerfully to show his neighbors how to take a
+mud bath, there wasn't even one of them that accepted his offer.
+
+To be sure, old Mr. Turtle remarked that there was a good deal to be
+said about mud baths. And then he waddled to the water's edge and swam
+away.
+
+"You heard what he said," Mr. Frog continued, turning to those who were
+left. "It's simple enough. All one has to do is to dive down to the
+bottom of the creek and bury himself snugly in the soft mud."
+
+"How do you breathe?" somebody inquired.
+
+"Oh, that's simple enough," Mr. Frog replied. "You breathe through your
+skin."
+
+Smiles appeared on the faces of his listeners. And here and there a
+cough sounded. It was plain that the company had little faith in Mr.
+Frog's easy explanation.
+
+"Doesn't it hurt your skin to breathe through it?" some one else asked.
+
+"What if it does?" Ferdinand Frog retorted. "When your skin becomes
+worn, pull it off!"
+
+Everybody laughed heartily at his answer; or at least, everybody except
+Long Bill Wren and his wife. They exchanged a thoughtful look. For they
+knew Mr. Frog's ways better than his other neighbors did.
+
+Now, Ferdinand Frog did not mind the laughter at all.
+
+"Of course," he went on, "you can't breathe through your skin quite so
+well as you can in the _regular_ way. After you have stayed in the mud a
+while, you'll begin to want a _regular_ breath of fresh air. So then you
+come up to the top of the water."
+
+"Cat-tails and pussy-willows!" Long Bill Wren cried out. "I'm sure I
+shall never take a mud bath. They seem to me to be very dangerous."
+
+"Not at all!" Mr. Frog assured him. "They're as safe as standing on your
+head." And thereupon he stood on his own head, to prove that what he
+said was true.
+
+Still the company was not moved to take Mr. Frog's advice and try a mud
+bath. Most of them declared that nothing could induce them to undertake
+such a risky act. But a few daring ones said that if all the rest would
+take mud baths, and if they found that they liked them, they themselves
+would be willing to test them too.
+
+However, nobody took a single step towards the creek. So at last the
+company scattered, leaving Long Bill Wren and Mr. Frog alone upon the
+bank.
+
+Meanwhile Long Bill had been thinking deeply. He had begun to wonder
+whether there might not be some good in a mud bath, in spite of his
+neighbors' doubts. And now he turned to Ferdinand Frog and began
+speaking in a hushed voice.
+
+"Don't tell my wife I asked you this question," he said; "but I should
+like to know if mud baths are good for rheumatism."
+
+"Good for it!" Mr. Frog exclaimed. "Why, they're a sure cure--and the
+only one!"
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+LEARNING TO HOLD HIS BREATH
+
+
+There on the bank of Black Creek Mr. Frog and Long Bill Wren talked in
+whispers about mud baths. And in a short time Long Bill announced that
+he had made up his mind to try one.
+
+"Good!" Mr. Frog cried, as he patted his neighbor on the back. "And now
+let me give you a bit of advice. Before you dive into the creek you
+should learn _to hold your breath_. . . .
+
+"You'd better go home and begin practising at once."
+
+So Long Bill Wren flew into his house and stayed there the rest of that
+day. But he soon found that all was not as simple as he had hoped.
+Whenever he was trying to hold his breath his wife was sure to ask him a
+question. And of course that led to trouble. If he didn't answer her she
+thought him rude--and said so, quite frankly, too. While if he did
+answer her, speaking spoiled his practice.
+
+It was annoying, to say the least. And by the next morning the poor
+fellow was almost frantic.
+
+He sought out Mr. Frog and explained how hard it was for him to learn to
+hold his breath.
+
+"If you could only think of some way of making my wife hold hers too!"
+Long Bill moaned.
+
+But Mr. Frog said at once that nobody could do that, and there was no
+use in trying.
+
+"Why don't you," he asked, "go off by yourself in Cedar Swamp, and
+practice there?"
+
+But Long Bill said that he ought not to stay away from home long enough
+to do that.
+
+"Then there's only one way left for you," Mr. Frog decided. "You must
+practice at night, when your wife's asleep."
+
+"A good idea!" Long Bill whispered. "I'll try it this very night!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Bright and early the next morning Long Bill Wren found Mr. Frog a little
+way up the creek and told him that his night's practice had been a great
+success.
+
+"I began holding my breath right after sunset," he said, "and it was so
+easy that I fell asleep. And I never breathed once all night long,
+until I awoke at day-break."
+
+The news delighted Mr. Frog.
+
+"Good!" he cried. "And now there's one more thing you must do before you
+take a mud bath. You must learn to breathe through your skin. . . . Just
+try right now," he urged his companion.
+
+So Long Bill tried to breathe through his skin, while holding his breath
+at the same time.
+
+And soon he began to sputter and choke.
+
+"I'm afraid I can't do it," he faltered at last.
+
+Mr. Frog looked somewhat glum--for a moment.
+
+He pondered in silence. And at length he declared that without doubt
+there must be something wrong with Long Bill's skin!
+
+"How long have you worn it?" he inquired.
+
+"All my life!" Long Bill told him.
+
+"That's it!" Mr. Frog exclaimed. "It's worn out. You'll have to pull it
+off and use a fresh one."
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+MR. FROG RUNS AWAY
+
+
+It may have been Mr. Frog's words that dismayed Long Bill Wren, or it
+may have been his manner--or perhaps both. Anyhow, Long Bill looked
+frightened.
+
+"Where can I get a fresh skin if I pull off the one I'm wearing?" he
+wanted to know.
+
+"Why, there's another skin just beneath your old one," Mr. Frog informed
+him glibly. "Just pull hard and you'll see that I know what I'm talking
+about."
+
+But Long Bill was puzzled.
+
+"I--I don't know where to begin," he stammered.
+
+"Maybe you need help," Mr. Frog suggested.
+
+And Long Bill agreed that he did need help--and a good deal of it, too.
+
+"Well," Mr. Frog said with a giggle, "I'll get old Mr. Turtle to assist
+me. And between us we'll have your old skin off before you know it."
+
+He began to bellow Mr. Turtle's name at the top of his lungs. And soon
+the old gentleman's black head popped out of the water. And presently
+Mr. Turtle waddled up the bank of Black Creek and listened to Ferdinand
+Frog's directions.
+
+"You take hold of Long Bill's tail," Mr. Frog ordered him, while to the
+frightened owner of the tail he said cheerfully, "Anything Mr. Turtle
+takes hold of just _has_ to come. He never lets go until it does."
+
+Now, Long Bill Wren had suddenly made up his mind that he wouldn't take
+a mud bath, after all. He didn't like the prospect of having his skin
+pulled off. Suppose Mr. Frog should be mistaken about that second skin,
+which the tailor claimed lay underneath the old one?
+
+Long Bill believed that with no skin at all he would find his rheumatism
+much worse than before. And he would certainly be a queer-looking
+object.
+
+So as old Mr. Turtle crawled slowly towards him, he drew away.
+
+"I'm going to wait----" Long Bill announced.
+
+"Why?" Mr. Frog demanded.
+
+"Going to wait till the weather is warmer," Long Bill faltered.
+
+Of course Mr. Frog was disappointed by having his plans so upset.
+
+And Mr. Turtle was disappointed too.
+
+"My mouth is open," he told Mr. Frog. "I must grab something. And it
+might as well be you."
+
+But Mr. Frog jumped nimbly out of Mr. Turtle's reach. And a moment later
+he thrust the free end of a tree-root between Mr. Turtle's jaws.
+
+They closed with a snap. And Mr. Turtle began to pull.
+
+"Come on!" Mr. Frog urged Long Bill Wren. "The tree may fall at any
+moment. It's safer elsewhere." And without waiting to see what happened,
+he leaped into Black Creek and swam away.
+
+As for Long Bill Wren, he hurried home. He knew his wife would be
+wondering where he was, for he had been away from the house in the reeds
+much longer than his usual ten minutes.
+
+Arriving there, he was not surprised that she asked him a few
+questions. And he explained to her that he had been on the bank of the
+creek, watching old Mr. Turtle pulling at the root of a willow.
+
+"And I can tell you that I'm well pleased that it wasn't my tail Mr.
+Turtle had in his jaws," he said solemnly.
+
+Mrs. Wren shuddered at the mere mention of such an unlucky accident. And
+then she said: "I hope that dangerous Mr. Frog was not with you."
+
+"I believe he was there for a time," her husband replied. "But he left
+before I did."
+
+"I wish you would keep away from him," she remarked.
+
+"I'm going to," Long Bill Wren promised. "Although Mr. Frog is our
+newest neighbor, I shall have nothing more to do with him."
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+Little Jack Rabbit Books
+
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+By DAVID CORY
+
+Author of "Little Journeys to Happyland"
+
+=Colored Wrappers With Text Illustrations.=
+
+
+A new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of
+the wood and meadow.
+
+Children will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack Rabbit, and the
+clever way in which he escapes from his three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr.
+Wicked Wolf and Hungry Hawk will delight the youngsters.
+
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S ADVENTURES
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERS
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASEL
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE POLICEMAN DOG
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MISS MOUSIE
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE LUCKY
+        LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE YELLOW DOG TRAMP
+
+GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+
+HAPPY HOME SERIES
+
+By HOWARD R. GARIS
+
+
+=Individual Colored Wrappers and Colored Illustrations by LANG CAMPBELL=
+
+
+Mr. Garis has written many stories for boys and girls, among them his
+Uncle Wiggly volumes, but these books are something distinctly new,
+surprising and entertaining.
+
+
+ADVENTURES OF THE GALLOPING GAS STOVE
+
+A tale of how Gassy mysteriously disappeared, and how he came riding
+home on the back of an elephant. It is also related how he broke his
+leg, and fed a hungry family in a cottage near a lake.
+
+
+ADVENTURES of the RUNAWAY ROCKING CHAIR
+
+Racky creaked and groaned when fat Grandma sat on him too hard. He felt
+himself ill-treated, so he vanished. He did not intend to take Grandma's
+glasses with him, but he did. And he rocked a bunny to sleep.
+
+
+ADVENTURES OF THE TRAVELING TABLE
+
+Tippy, the table, always wanted to travel and see the world, but he did
+not know how to start. Until, all of a sudden, a diamond ring was hidden
+in his leg and a balloon carried him off through the air.
+
+
+ADVENTURES OF THE SLIDING FOOT STOOL
+
+Just because he did not want to be used as a milking stool by the Maiden
+All Forlorn, Skiddy slid away Christmas eve. With him went Jack the
+Jumper, and they had a wonderful time in the top shop.
+
+
+ADVENTURES OF THE SAILING SOFA
+
+Skippy always wanted to be a sailor. When the high water came in the
+spring, the sofa went sailing. He had a Rooster for a crew, while
+Tatter, the rag doll with one shoe button eye, was Captain.
+
+
+GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Sleepy-Time Tales
+
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+_By_ ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
+
+
+These little books for little people tell of the adventures of the
+four-footed creatures of our American woods and fields in an amusing way
+that delights small two-footed human beings. At the same time, in the
+short-comings of Cuffy Bear and his neighbors, children are quick to
+recognize their own faults and to take home the obvious lessons.
+
+_For complete list of the books in The Sleepy-Time Tales, see inside
+flap of this wrapper._
+
+
+GROSSET & DUNLAP--NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Ferdinand Frog, by Arthur Scott Bailey
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF FERDINAND FROG ***
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