frogs I wish to invite. I know they would like to come. I've been told
there are some frogs shut up in a stuffy pen. I must find them and get
them free. An oriole told me he saw a big strange frog wandering about
all alone, not seeming to know where to go. I must find him too. And
there are many others to tell. Now I must fly back to Mrs. Lark and the
babies."
He spread his wings and was gone. Bully hurried over to the island to
tell Grandfather Bull Frog all the Lark had told him.
THE ROBINS' SECRET
Now, my young friends, we are all about as much disappointed in the
Lark as the frogs were. But of course we can't blame him for being
homesick for his mate and his babies. But if he hadn't been, this story
would have been longer. As it is, we shall just have to make the best
of it. I will tell you a secret the Robins told me, if you promise
never to tell.
The Robins have a nest near the Larks' nest, and of course they didn't
want everyone else to know. But they said if I whispered it to my young
friends it would be all right, they thought. But you must not repeat it
loud enough for others to hear.
Just turn your ear this way and listen, so I can whisper it ever so
softly. The Lark told the Robins he would soon start back to tell all
the other frogs. He said he had heard of some of the queerest frogs
in the world. A bird told him he knew where there were some frogs
who carried their babies in a bag. One Robin said another bird told
the Lark of a frog that would bring all her family of fifty or sixty
children with her to the pond. The Robin spoke so low I didn't hear
just how she was going to do it.
The Lark told the Robin he had heard of many other queer kinds of
frogs, and that soon he was going to start out to find them. Some of
the frogs, he said, had big feet, some had little feet. Some wore
beautiful coats, and others wore very plain clothes. Some frogs he knew
of could really fly, others lived in holes in the ground, and some had
horns and some had none. The Lark said he had heard about these queer
frogs from different birds who had told him where he could find them.
He told the Robins some of them lived in places a long, long way from
the old Frog Pond. It would take him many days to make the journey
to their homes, but by flying fast he could see them all and be back
before Jack Frost came.
As soon as the Lark goes, and the strange frogs begin to come to
Bully's Frog Pond, I shall write and tell you all about them. I'm sure
it will not be many days before Bully's friend starts on his journey.
Mrs. Lark thinks that, with the help of the Robins and Grandfather Bull
Frog's good advice, she can take care of her babies. You wait patiently
until he returns. He flies fast, so it will not take him long to visit
them all. Then as the frogs come hopping in from all parts of the world
I will tell you about them in my next book, called _Bully's Queer
Relations_. You will find that he had a great many of them.
It all depends on the Lark. If he fails to invite all the frogs to the
Frog Pond, they will not come. But I do not believe that he will fail.
He is too true a friend of the frogs to disappoint them now when so
much depends on him. So you may count on the story.