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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.