his cabbage patch of the slugs which threatened to eat up his crop and
he was very tired. Presently he happened to look up the road, and who
should he see but old Mother Nature herself coming to visit his garden
and to find out why Mr. Toad had not been to pay her his respects.
"Suddenly Mr. Toad remembered that he had on his working clothes, which
were very old, very dirty and very ragged. For just a minute he didn't
know what to do. Then he dived under a cabbage leaf and began to pull
off his old suit. But the old suit stuck! He was in such a hurry and
so excited that he couldn't find the buttons. Finally he got his
trousers off. Then he reached over and got hold of the back of his
coat and tugged and hauled until finally he pulled his old coat off
right over his head just as if it were a shirt.
"Mr. Toad gave a great sigh of relief as he stepped out in his new
suit, for you remember that he had been wearing that new suit
underneath the old one all the time.
"Mr. Toad was very well pleased with himself until he thought how
terribly untidy that ragged old suit looked lying on the ground. What
should he do with it? He couldn't hide it in the garden, for old
Mother Nature's eyes are so sharp that she would be sure to see it.
What should he do?
"Then Mr. Toad had a happy thought. Every one made fun of his big
mouth. But what was a big mouth for if not to use? He would swallow
his old suit! In a flash Mr. Toad dived under the cabbage leaf and
crammed his old suit into his mouth.
"When old Mother Nature came into the garden, Mr. Toad was waiting in
the path to receive her. Very fine he looked in his new suit and you
would have thought he had been waiting all day to receive old Mother
Nature, but for one thing--swallow as much and as hard as he would, he
couldn't get down quite all of his old suit, and a leg of his trousers
hung out of a corner of his big mouth.
"Of course old Mother Nature saw it right away. And how she did laugh!
And of course Mr. Toad felt very much mortified. But Mother Nature was
so pleased with Mr. Toad's garden and with Mr. Toad's industry that she
quite overlooked the ragged trousers leg hanging from the corner of Mr.
Toad's mouth.
"'Fine clothes arc not to be compared with fine work,' said old Mother
Nature. 'I herewith appoint you my chief gardener, Mr. Toad. And as a
sign that all may know that this is so, hereafter you shall always
swallow your old suit whenever you change your clothes!'
"And from that day to this the toads have been the very best of
gardeners. And in memory of their great, great, great-grandfather a
thousand times removed they have always swallowed their old suits.
"Now you know what my cousin, old Mr. Toad, did with his old suit just
before Peter Rabbit passed his house this morning," concluded
Great-Grandfather Frog.
"Oh," cried the Merry Little Breezes, "thank you, thank you,
Grandfather Frog!"
Then they raced away across the Green Meadows and up the Crooked Little
Path to see if old Mr. Toad was gardening. And Peter Rabbit still
wonders what old Mr. Toad did with his old suit.
X
GRANDFATHER FROG GETS EVEN
Old Grandfather Frog sat on his big green lily pad in the Smiling Pool
dreaming of the days when the world was young and the frogs ruled the
world. His hands were folded across his white and yellow waistcoat.
Round, red, smiling Mr. Sun sent down his warmest rays on the back of
Grandfather Frog's green coat.
Very early that morning Old Mother West Wind, hurrying down from the
Purple Hills on her way to help the white-sailed ships across the great
ocean, had stopped long enough to blow three or four fat, foolish,
green flies over to the big lily pad, and they were now safely inside
the white and yellow waistcoat. A thousand little tadpoles, the great,
great-grandchildren of Grandfather Frog, were playing in the Smiling
Pool, and every once in a while wriggling up to the big lily pad to
look with awe at Grandfather Frog and wonder if they would ever be as
handsome and big and wise as he.
And still old Grandfather Frog sat dreaming and dreaming of the days
when all the frogs had tails and ruled the world.
Presently Billy Mink came hopping and skipping down the Laughing Brook.
Sometimes he swam a little way and sometimes he ran a little way along
the bank, and sometimes he jumped from stone to stone. Billy Mink was
feeling very good--very good indeed. He had caught a fine fat trout
for breakfast. He had hidden two more away for dinner in a snug little
hole no one knew of but himself. Now he had nothing to do but get into
mischief. You can always depend upon Billy Mink to get into mischief.
He just can't help it.
So Billy Mink came hopping and skipping down the Laughing Brook to the
Smiling Pool. Then he stopped, as still as the rock he was standing
on, and peeped through the bulrushes. Billy Mink is very cautious,
very cautious indeed. He always looks well before he shows himself,
that nothing may surprise him.
So Billy Mink looked all over the Smiling Pool and the grassy banks.
He saw the sunbeams dancing on the water. He saw the tadpoles having
such a good time in the Smiling Pool. He saw the Merry Little Breezes
kissing the buttercups and daisies on the bank, and he saw old
Grandfather Frog with his hands folded across his white, and yellow
waistcoat sitting on the green lily pad, dreaming of the days when the
world was young.
Then Billy Mink took a long breath, a very long breath, and dived into
the Smiling Pool. Now, Billy Mink can swim very fast, very fast
indeed. For a little way he can swim even faster than Mr. Trout. And
he can stay under water a long time.
Straight across the Smiling Pool, with not even the tip of his nose out
of water, swam Billy Mink. The thousand little tadpoles saw him coming
and fled in all directions to bury themselves in the mud at the bottom
of the Smiling Pool, for when he thinks no one is looking Billy Mink
sometimes gobbles up a fat tadpole for breakfast.
Straight across the Smiling Pool swam Billy Mink toward the big green
lily pad where Grandfather Frog sat dreaming of the days when the world
was young. When he was right under the big green lily pad he suddenly
kicked up hard with his hind feet. Up went the big green lily pad,
and, of course, up went Grandfather Frog--up and over flat on his back,
with a great splash into the Smiling Pool!
Now, Grandfather Frog's mouth is very big. Indeed, no one else has so
big a mouth, unless it be his cousin, old Mr. Toad. And when
Grandfather Frog went over flat on his back, splash in the Smiling
Pool, his mouth was wide open.
You see he was so surprised he forgot to close it. So, of course,
Grandfather Frog swallowed a great deal of water, and he choked and
spluttered and swam around in foolish little circles trying to find
himself. Finally he climbed out on his big green lily pad.
[Illustration: He was so surprised he forgot to close it.]
"Chug-a-rum?" said Grandfather Frog, and looked this way and looked
that way. Then he gave a funny hop and turned about in the opposite
direction and looked this way and looked that way, but all he saw was
the Smiling Pool dimpling and smiling, Mrs. Redwing bringing a fat worm
to her hungry little babies in their snug nest in the bulrushes, and
the Merry Little Breezes hurrying over to see what the trouble might be.
"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog. "It is very strange. I must have
fallen asleep and had a bad dream."
Then he once more settled himself comfortably on the big green lily
pad, folded his hands across his white and yellow waistcoat, and seemed
to be dreaming again, only his big goggly eyes were not dreaming. No,
indeed! They were very much awake, and they saw all that was going on
in the Smiling Pool. Great-Grandfather Frog was just pretending. You
may fool him once, but Grandfather Frog has lived so long that he has
become very wise, and though Billy Mink is very smart, it takes some
one a great deal smarter than Billy Mink to fool Grandfather Frog twice
in the same way.
Billy Mink, hiding behind the Big Rock, had laughed and laughed till he
had to hold his sides when Grandfather Frog had choked and spluttered
and hopped about on the big lily pad trying to find out what it all
meant. He thought it such a good joke that he couldn't keep it to
himself, so when he saw Little Joe Otter coming to try his slippery
slide he swam across to tell him all about it. Little Joe Otter
laughed and laughed until he had to hold his sides. Then they both
swam back to hide behind the Big Rock to watch until Grandfather Frog
should forget all about it, and they could play the trick over again.
Now, out of the corner of one of his big goggly eyes, Grandfather Frog
had seen Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter with their heads close
together, laughing and holding their sides, and he saw them swim over
behind the Big Rock. Pretty soon one of the Merry Little Breezes
danced over to see if Grandfather Frog had really gone to sleep.
Grandfather Frog didn't move, not the teeniest, weeniest bit, but he
whispered something to the Merry Little Breeze, and the Merry Little
Breeze flew away, shaking with laughter, to where the other Merry
Little Breezes were playing with the buttercups and daisies.
Then all the Merry Little Breezes clapped their hands and laughed too.
They left the buttercups and daisies and began to play tag across the
Smiling Pool.
Now, right on the edge of the Big Rock lay a big stick. Pretty soon
the Merry Little Breezes danced over to the Big Rock, and then,
suddenly, all together they gave the big stick a push. Off it went,
and then such a splashing and squealing as there was behind the Big
Rock!
In a few moments Little Joe Otter crept out beside his slippery slide
and slipped away holding on to his head. And, sneaking through the
bulrushes, so as not to be seen, crawled Billy Mink, back towards his
home on the Laughing Brook. Billy Mink wasn't laughing now. Oh, no!
He was limping and he was holding on to his head. Little Joe Otter and
Billy Mink had been sitting right underneath the big stick.
"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog and held on to his sides and opened
his mouth very wide in a noiseless laugh, for Grandfather Frog never
makes a sound when he laughs.
"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog once more. Then he folded his
hands across his white and yellow waistcoat and began again to dream of
the days when the frogs had long tails and ruled the world.
XI
THE DISAPPOINTED BUSH
Way down beside the Laughing Brook grew a little bush. It looked a
whole lot like other little bushes all around it. But really it was
quite different, as you shall see. When in the spring warm, jolly,
round Mr. Sun brought back the birds and set them singing, when the
little flowers popped their heads out of the ground to have a look
around, then all the little bushes put out their green leaves.
This little bush of which I am telling you put out its green leaves
with the rest. The little leaves grew bigger and bigger on all the
little bushes. By and by on some of the other little bushes, little
brown buds began to appear and grow and grow. Then on more and more of
the little bushes the little brown buds came and grew and grew. But on
this little bush of which I am telling you no little brown buds
appeared. The little bush felt very sad indeed.
Pretty soon all the little brown buds on the other little brown bushes
burst their brown coats, and then all the little bushes were covered
with little flowers. Some were white and some were yellow and some
were pink; and the air was filled with the sweet odor of all the little
flowers. It brought the bees from far, far away to gather the honey,
and all the little bushes were very happy indeed.
But the little bush of which I am telling you had no little flowers,
for you see it had had no little buds, and it felt lonely and shut away
from the other little bushes, and very sad indeed. But it bravely kept
on growing and growing and growing. Its little leaves grew bigger and
bigger and bigger, and it tried its best not to mind because it had no
little flowers.
Then one by one, and two by two, and three by three, and finally in
whole showers, the little flowers of all the other little bushes fell
off, and they looked very much like the little bush of which I am
telling you, so that the little bush no longer felt sad.
All summer long all the little bushes grew and grew and grew. The
birds came and built their nests among them. Peter Rabbit and his
brothers and sisters scampered under them. The butterflies flew over
them.
By and by came the fall, and with the fall came Jack Frost. He went
about among the little bushes, pinching the leaves. Then the little
green leaves turned to brown and red and yellow and pretty soon they
fluttered down to the ground, the Merry Little Breezes blew them about
and all the little bushes were bare. They had no leaves at all to
cover their little naked brown limbs.
The little bush of which I am telling you lost its leaves with the
rest. But all the summer long this little bush had been growing some
of those little brown buds, which the other bushes had had in the
spring, and now, when all the other little bushes had lost all the
green leaves, and had nothing at all upon their little brown twigs,
behold! one beautiful day, the little bush of which I am telling you
was covered with gold, for each little brown bud had burst its little
brown coat and there was a beautiful little yellow flower. Such a
multitude of these little yellow flowers! They covered the little bush
from top to bottom. Then the little bush felt very happy indeed, for
it was the only bush which had any flowers. And every one who passed
that way stopped to look at it and to praise it.
Colder grew the weather and colder. Johnny Chuck tucked himself away
to sleep all winter. Grandfather Frog went deep, deep down in the mud,
not to come out again until spring. By and by the little yellow
flowers dropped off the little bush, just as the other little flowers
in spring had dropped off the other bushes. But they left behind them
tiny little packages, one for every little flower that had been on the
bush. All winter long these little packages clung to the little bush.
In the spring when the little leaves burst forth in all the little
bushes, these little packages on the little bush of which I am telling
you grew and grew and grew. While the other little bushes had a lot of
little flowers as they had had the year before, these little brown
packages on the little bush of which I am telling you kept on growing.
And they comforted the little bush because it felt that it really had
something worth while.
All the summer long the little brown packages grew and grew until they
looked like little nuts. When the fall came again and all the little
leaves dropped off all the little bushes, and the little bush of which
I am telling you was covered with another lot of little yellow flowers
and was very happy, then these little brown nuts, one bright autumn
day, suddenly popped open! And out of each one flew two brown shiny
little seeds. You never saw such a popping and a snapping and a
jumping! Pop! pop! snap! snap! hippetty hop! they went, faster than
the corn pops in the corn popper. Reddy Fox, who always is suspicious,
thought some one was shooting at him. Down on the ground fell the
little brown shining seeds and tucked themselves into the warm earth
under the warm leaves, there to stay all winter long.
And when the third spring came with all its little birds and all its
little flowers and the warm sunshine, every one of these little brown
seeds which had tucked themselves into the warm earth, burst its little
brown skin, and up into the sunshine came a little green plant, which
would grow and grow and grow, and by and by become just like the little
bush I am telling you about.
When the little bush looked down and saw all these little green
children popping out of the ground, it was very happy indeed, for it
knew that it would no longer be lonely. It no longer felt bad when all
the other bushes were covered with flowers, for it knew that by and by
when all the other little bushes had lost all their leaves and all
their flowers, then would come its turn, and it knew that for a whole
year its little brown children would be held safe on its branches.
Now, what do you think is the name of this little bush? Why, it is the
witch hazel. And sometime when you fall down and bump yourself hard
grandma will go to the medicine closet and will bring out a bottle, and
from that bottle she will pour something on that little sore place and
it will make it feel better. Do you know what it is? It is the gift
of the witch hazel bush to little boys and big men to make them feel
better when they are hurt.
XII
WHY BOBBY COON WASHES HIS FOOD
Happy-Go-Lucky Bobby Coon sat on the edge of the Laughing Brook just as
round, red Mr. Sun popped up from behind the Purple Hills and Old
Mother West Wind turned all her Merry Little Breezes out to romp on the
Green Meadows.
Bobby Coon had been out all night. You see Bobby Coon is very apt to
get into mischief, and because usually it is safer to get into mischief
under cover of the darkness Bobby Coon prefers the night wherein to go
abroad. Not that Bobby Coon is really bad! Oh my, no! Everybody
likes Bobby Coon. But he can no more keep out of mischief than a duck
can keep out of water.
So Bobby Coon sat on the edge of the Laughing Brook and he was very
busy, very busy indeed. He was washing his breakfast. Really, it was
his dinner, for turning night into day just turns everything
topsy-turvy. So Bobby Coon eats dinner when most of the little meadow
people are eating breakfast.
This morning he was very busy washing a luscious ear of sweet corn just
in the milk. He dipped it in the water and with one little black paw
rubbed it thoroughly. Then he looked it over carefully before, with a
sigh of contentment, he sat down to put it in his empty little stomach.
When he had finished it to the last sweet, juicy kernel, he ambled
sleepily up the Lone Little Path to the big hollow chestnut tree where
he lives, and in its great hollow in a soft bed of leaves Bobby Coon
curled himself up in a tight little ball to sleep the long, bright day
away.
One of the Merry Little Breezes softly followed him. When he had
crawled into the hollow chestnut and only his funny, ringed tail hung
out, the Merry Little Breezes tweaked it sharply just for fun, and then
danced away down the Lone Little Path to join the other Merry Little
Breezes around the Smiling Pool.
"Oh! Grandfather Frog," cried a Merry Little Breeze, "tell us why it
is that Bobby Coon always washes his food. He never eats it where he
gets it or takes it home to his hollow in the big chestnut, but always
comes to the Laughing Brook to wash it. None of the other meadow
people do that."
Now Great-Grandfather Frog is counted very wise. He is very, very old
and he knows the history of all the tribes of little meadow people way
back to the time when the frogs ruled the world.
When the Merry Little Breeze asked him why Bobby Coon always washes his
food, Grandfather Frog stopped to snap up a particularly fat, foolish,
green fly that came his way. Then, while all the Merry Little Breezes
gathered around him, he settled himself on his big green lily pad and
began:
"Once upon a time, when the world was young, old King Bear ruled in the
Green Forest. Of course old Mother Nature, who was even more beautiful
then than she is now, was the real ruler, but she let old King Bear
think he ruled so long as he ruled wisely.
"All the little Green Forest folk and all the little people of the
Green Meadows used to take presents of food to old King Bear, so that
he never had to hunt for things to eat. He grew fatter and fatter and
fatter until it seemed as if his skin must burst. And the fatter he
grew the lazier he grew."
Grandfather Frog paused with an expectant far-away look in his great
bulging eyes. Then he leaped into the air so far that when he came
down it was with a great splash in the Smiling Pool. But as he swam
back to his big lily pad the leg of a foolish green fly could be seen
sticking out of one corner of his big mouth, and he settled himself
with a sigh of great contentment.
"Old King Bear," continued Grandfather Frog, just as if there had been
no interruption, "grew fatter and lazier every day, and like a great
many other fat and lazy people who have nothing to do for themselves
but are always waited on by others, he grew shorter and shorter in
temper and harder and harder to please.
"Now perhaps you don't know it, but the Bear family and the Coon family
are very closely related. In fact, they are second cousins. Old Mr.
Coon, Bobby Coon's father with a thousand greats tacked on before, was
young then, and he was very, very proud of being related to old King
Bear. He began to pass some of his old playfellows on the Green
Meadows without seeing them. He spent a great deal of time brushing
his coat and combing his whiskers and caring for his big ringed tail.
He held his head very high and he put on such airs that pretty soon he
could see no one at all but members of his own family and of the royal
family of Bear.
"Now as old King Bear grew fat and lazy he grew fussy, so that he was
no longer content to take everything brought him, but picked out the
choicest portions for himself and left the rest. Mr. Coon took charge
of all the things brought as tribute to old King Bear and of course
where there were so many goodies left he got all he wanted without
working.
"So just as old King Bear had grown fat and lazy and selfish, Mr. Coon
grew fat and lazy and selfish. Pretty soon he began to pick out the
best things for himself and hide them before old King Bear saw them.
When old King Bear was asleep he would go get them and stuff himself
like a greedy pig. And because he was stealing and wanted no one to
see him he always ate his stolen feasts at night.
"Now old Mother Nature is, as you all know, very, very wise, oh very
wise indeed. One of the first laws she made when the world was young
is that every living thing shall work for what it has, and the harder
it works the stronger it shall grow. So when Old Mother Nature saw how
fat and lazy and selfish old King Bear was getting and how fat and lazy
and dishonest his cousin, Mr. Coon, was becoming, she determined that
they should be taught a lesson which they would remember for ever and
ever and ever.
"First she proclaimed that old King Bear should be king no longer, and
no more need the little folks of the Green Forest and the little people
of the Green Meadows bring him tribute.
"Now when old Mother Nature made this proclamation old King Bear was
fast asleep. It was just on the edge of winter and he had picked out a
nice warm cave with a great pile of leaves for a bed. Old Mother
Nature peeped in at him. He was snoring and probably dreaming of more
good things to eat. 'If he is to be king no longer, there is no use in
waking him now,' said old Mother Nature to herself, 'he is so fat and
so stupid. He shall sleep until gentle Sister South Wind comes in the
spring to kiss away the snow and ice. Then he shall waken with a lean
stomach and a great appetite and there shall be none to feed him.'
"Now old Mother Nature always has a warm heart and she was very fond of
Bobby Coon's grandfather a thousand times removed. So when she saw
what a selfish glutton and thief he had become she decided to put him
to sleep just as she had old King Bear. But first she would teach Mr.
Coon that stolen food is not the sweetest.
"So old Mother Nature found some tender, juicy corn just in the milk
which Mr. Coon had stolen from old King Bear. Then she went down on
the Green Meadows where the wild mustard grows and gathering a lot of
this she rubbed the juice into the corn and then put it back where Mr.
Coon had left it.
"Now I have told you that it was night when Mr. Coon had his stolen
feasts, for he wanted no one to see him. So no one was there when he
took a great bite of the tender, juicy corn old Mother Nature had put
back for him. Being greedy and a glutton, he swallowed the first
mouthful before he had fairly tasted it, and took a second, and then
such a time as there was on the edge of the Green Forest! Mr. Coon
rolled over and over with both of his forepaws clasped over his stomach
and groaned and groaned and groaned. He had rubbed his eyes and of
course had got mustard into them and could not see. He waked up all
the little Green Forest folk who sleep through the night, as good
people should, and they all gathered around to see what was the matter
with Mr. Coon.