Latest / Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens / Tale of Ferdinand Frog-Arthur Scott Bailey

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Tale of Ferdinand Frog-Arthur Scott Bailey · Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens

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  Speaker 1: Section one of the Tale of Ferdinand Frog. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Jude Summers. The Tale of Ferdinand Frog by
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  Speaker 1: Arthur Scott Bailey, Section one Pretty as a Picture, The
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  Speaker 1: Dangers of Travel, and mister Frog's double Chapter one Pretty
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  Speaker 1: as a Picture. There was something about Ferdinand Frog that
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  Speaker 1: made everybody smile. It may have been his amazingly wide
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  Speaker 1: mouth and his queer bulging eyes, or perhaps it was
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  Speaker 1: his sprightly manner, for one could never tell when mister
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  Speaker 1: Frog would leap into the air or turn a somersault backward. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: some of his neighbors claimed that he himself didn't know
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  Speaker 1: what he was going to do next. He was oh jumpy. Anyhow,
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  Speaker 1: All the wild folk in Pleasant Valley agreed that Ferdinand
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  Speaker 1: Frog was an agreeable person to have around. No matter
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  Speaker 1: what happened, he was always cheerful. Nobody ever heard of
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  Speaker 1: his losing his temper, though, to be sure, he was
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  Speaker 1: sometimes the means of other people's losing theirs. But let
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  Speaker 1: a body be as angry as he pleased with mister Frog,
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  Speaker 1: mister Frog would continue to smile and smirk. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: such extreme cheerfulness often made angry folk only the more furious,
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  Speaker 1: especially when the whole trouble was Ferdinand Frog's own fault.
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  Speaker 1: But it made no difference to him what blunder he
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  Speaker 1: had made. He was always ready to make another and
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  Speaker 1: smile at the same time. Really, he was so good
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  Speaker 1: natured that nobody could feel peevish towards him for long.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, he was a great favorite, especially among the lady.
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  Speaker 1: Whenever he met one of them, it might be the
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  Speaker 1: youngest of the rabbit's sisters or old Aunt Polly Woodchuck.
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  Speaker 1: He never failed to make the lowest of boughs smile
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  Speaker 1: the broadest of smiles, and inquire after her health. That
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  Speaker 1: was Ferdinand Frog, known far and wide for his elegant manners.
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  Speaker 1: Every young lady declared that he wore exquisite clothes too,
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  Speaker 1: and many of them secretly thought him quite good looking.
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  Speaker 1: But people as old as Aunt Polly Woodchuck seldom take
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  Speaker 1: heed of what a person wears, as for mister Frog's looks,
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  Speaker 1: since Aunt Polly believed that handsome is as handsome, does
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  Speaker 1: she admitted that Ferdinand Frog was, as she put it,
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  Speaker 1: purty as a picture. When Ferdinand Frog heard that, he
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  Speaker 1: was so delighted that he hurried straight home and put
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  Speaker 1: on his best suit, And then he spent most of
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  Speaker 1: a whole afternoon smiling at his reflection in the surface
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  Speaker 1: of the beaver pond, where he was living at the time.
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  Speaker 1: So it is easy to see that Ferdinand Frog was
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  Speaker 1: a vain and silly fellow. He was even foolish enough
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  Speaker 1: to repeat Aunt Polly's remark to everybody he chanced to
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  Speaker 1: meet that night and the following day as well. There
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  Speaker 1: was no one who could help grinning at Ferdinand Frog's news.
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  Speaker 1: He looked so comical, and old mister Crow, who was
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  Speaker 1: noted for his rudeness, even burst out with a horse
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  Speaker 1: ha ha, he are pretty as a picture, eh, he chuckled.
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  Speaker 1: I suppose Aunt Polly means that you are as pretty
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  Speaker 1: as one of the pictures that the circus men have
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  Speaker 1: pasted on Farmer Green's barn. I believe, he added, as
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  Speaker 1: he stared at Ferdinand Frog. I believe I know which
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  Speaker 1: one Aunt Polly means is that? So cried mister Frog,
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  Speaker 1: swelling himself up through until it seemed that he must burst.
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  Speaker 1: Oh which picture is it. It's the one in the
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  Speaker 1: upper left hand corner, Old mister Crow informed him solemnly.
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  Speaker 1: And if you haven't seen it yet, you should take
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  Speaker 1: a good look at it soon. I will, Ferdinand Frog declared,
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  Speaker 1: I'll visit Farmer Green's place this very night, And he
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  Speaker 1: opened his mouth and smiled so widely that old mister
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  Speaker 1: Crow couldn't help shuddering, though he knew well enough that
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  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog could never swallow anyone as big as he was.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter two, The Dangers of Travel. It was a long
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  Speaker 1: way to Farmer Green's from the beaver Pond, where Ferdinand
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  Speaker 1: Frog made his home, but he felt that he simply
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  Speaker 1: must see that picture, which mister Crow said looked like him,
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  Speaker 1: so he started out just before sunset. One thing at
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  Speaker 1: least about his journey pleased him. He could make the
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  Speaker 1: trip by water, and he certainly did hate traveling on land. Luckily,
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  Speaker 1: the stream that trickled its way below the Beaver Dam
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  Speaker 1: led straight to Swift River, and everybody who knew anything
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  Speaker 1: was aware that Swift River ran right under the bridge,
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  Speaker 1: not far from the farm house. So mister Frog leaped
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  Speaker 1: spryly into the brook and struck out down stream. He
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  Speaker 1: was a famous swimmer, having been used to the water
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  Speaker 1: from the time he was a tadpole, and now he
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  Speaker 1: swam so fast with the help of the current, that
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  Speaker 1: he reached the river by the time the moon was up.
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  Speaker 1: As he looked up at the sky, Ferdinand Frog was
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  Speaker 1: both glad and sorry that there was a moon that night.
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  Speaker 1: The moon would be a good thing provided he reached
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  Speaker 1: the end of his journey, for it would give him
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  Speaker 1: a fine, clear view of the picture on the barn,
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  Speaker 1: which he so much wanted to see. On the other hand,
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  Speaker 1: he would have preferred a dark night for a swim
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  Speaker 1: and swift river. There were fish there, pickerel, which would
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  Speaker 1: rather swallow him than not, and he knew that they
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  Speaker 1: were sure to be feeding by the light of the moon.
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  Speaker 1: If mister Frog hadn't always looked on the bright side
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  Speaker 1: of life, no doubt he would have waited a week
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  Speaker 1: or two until there was no moon at all. But
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  Speaker 1: he remarked to himself with a grin as he hurried along,
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  Speaker 1: that he had never yet seen the pickerel that was
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  Speaker 1: quick enough to catch him, and furthermore, he never expected to.
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  Speaker 1: But those words were hardly out of Ferdinand Frog's mouth.
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  Speaker 1: When he turned and made for the bank as fast
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  Speaker 1: as he could go, he had caught sight of a dark,
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  Speaker 1: long nosed fish lying among some weeds, and he decided
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  Speaker 1: suddenly that he would finish his journey by land. It
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  Speaker 1: would be a shame, he told himself, as he flopped
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  Speaker 1: up the steep bank. It would be a shame for
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  Speaker 1: so handsome a person as I am, to be eaten
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  Speaker 1: by a fish. But you wouldn't object to a bird,
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  Speaker 1: would you, said a voice right in Ferdinand Frog's ear,
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  Speaker 1: Or so it seemed to him. He made no answer,
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  Speaker 1: not even stopping to bow or say good evening, but
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  Speaker 1: turned a somersault backward and hid himself under the overhanging bank.
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  Speaker 1: It was Solomon Owl who had spoken to him. There
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  Speaker 1: was no mistaking the loud, mocking laughter that followed mister
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  Speaker 1: Frog's hasty retreat. Solomon Owl is a great joker, mister
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  Speaker 1: Frog murmured with a smile. He was only teasing me. Still,
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  Speaker 1: he might be a bit hungry, so I'll stay here
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  Speaker 1: out of harm's way for a while, for it would
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  Speaker 1: be a shame for so handsome a person as I
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  Speaker 1: am to be eaten by an old rascally bird like
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  Speaker 1: Solomon Owl. One can judge just by that remark that
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  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog was not quite so polite as his neighbors supposed.
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  Speaker 1: When there was no one to hear what he said.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter three, Mister Frog's Double. Mister Frog waited until it
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  Speaker 1: was broad daylight before he left his hiding place beneath
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  Speaker 1: the bank of the river. He knew that by that
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  Speaker 1: time Solomon Owl must have gone home to his hemlock
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  Speaker 1: tree to get his rest. So Ferdinand Frog felt quite
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  Speaker 1: safe again. Having made up his mind that he would
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  Speaker 1: finish his journey to Farmer Green's place by land, he
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  Speaker 1: started briskly across the cornfield, traveling in a straight line
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  Speaker 1: between two rows of young corn. He had not gone
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  Speaker 1: far before a hoarse voice called to him, but this
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  Speaker 1: time he was not alarmed. It was only old mister Crow,
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  Speaker 1: who seemed greatly pleased to see him. Hello, young fellow,
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  Speaker 1: said mister Crow, if you're on your way to the
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  Speaker 1: barn to look at that picture, I'll fly over there
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  Speaker 1: myself because i'd like to see it again. Aren't you
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  Speaker 1: afraid of meeting Farmer Green? Ferdinand Frog asked him. Afraid,
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  Speaker 1: mister Crow snorted, certainly not. We're the best of friends.
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  Speaker 1: He set up this straw man here just to keep
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  Speaker 1: me company. Besides, he went on, at this time of day,
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  Speaker 1: farmer Brown is inside the barn milking the cows, and
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  Speaker 1: we'll be outside it looking at the circus pictures. We
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  Speaker 1: can call to him if you want to say good
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  Speaker 1: morning to him, Ferdinand Frog suggested, cheerfully. Oh no, his
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  Speaker 1: companion said quickly, I wouldn't want to do that. H
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  Speaker 1: he's so busy. Ferdinand Frog smiled, and for some reason,
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  Speaker 1: old mister Crow seemed displeased. What's the joke, he inquired,
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  Speaker 1: in a surly voice. Something seems to amuse you. Why
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  Speaker 1: are you grinning? It's just a habit I have, Ferdinand
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  Speaker 1: Frog explained, I'd try to break myself of that abbit
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  Speaker 1: if I were you. Mister Crow advised him. Some day
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  Speaker 1: it will get you into trouble, for you're likely to
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  Speaker 1: grin when you oughtn't to. There's a wrong time and
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  Speaker 1: a right time for everything, you know, just as there
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  Speaker 1: is for planting corn. Mister Frog chimed in, exactly, mister
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  Speaker 1: Crow returned, and for eating it, mister Frog added, But
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  Speaker 1: old mister Crow only said hastily that he would be
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  Speaker 1: at the barn by the time Ferdinand reached it, and
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  Speaker 1: without another word, he flapped himself away across the field.
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  Speaker 1: He's a queer one, said Ferdinand Frog to himself. It
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  Speaker 1: seems as if a person couldn't please him, no matter
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  Speaker 1: how much a person tried. Then he untied his necktie
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  Speaker 1: and tied it again, because he thought one end of
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  Speaker 1: the bow was longer than the other, and that was
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  Speaker 1: something he couldn't endure. Then he resumed his jumping, and
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  Speaker 1: after exactly one hundred and thirty two jumps, he reached
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  Speaker 1: a corner of Farmer Green's great barn, where he found
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  Speaker 1: old mister Crow waiting for him, still smiling. I see
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  Speaker 1: the old gentleman, observed gruffly. Maybe you'll laugh out of
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  Speaker 1: the other corner of your mouth after you've seen the
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  Speaker 1: pretty picture that you look like. I hope. So where
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  Speaker 1: is it, Ferdinand Frog asked him, eagerly. Show me the
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  Speaker 1: pretty one. Come with me, said old mister Crow, and
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  Speaker 1: he led the way around the barn, stopping before the
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  Speaker 1: side that faced the road. There, he cried, it's in
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  Speaker 1: the upper left hand corner, just as I told you,
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  Speaker 1: and he chuckled as loud as he dared, with Farmer
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  Speaker 1: Green inside the building milking the cows. As Ferdinand Frog
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  Speaker 1: gazed upward, a shadow of disappointment came over his face,
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  Speaker 1: and for once he did not smile. Do do I
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  Speaker 1: look like that? He faltered, You certainly do, old mister
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  Speaker 1: Crow assured him. See those eyes, don't they bulge just
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  Speaker 1: like yours? And look at that mouth. It's fully as
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  Speaker 1: wide as yours, and maybe a trifle wider. The face
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  Speaker 1: does look a bit like mine, I'll admit, Ferdinand Frog muttered,
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  Speaker 1: but no one would ever mistake one of us for
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  Speaker 1: the other. What's the name of this creature? It's called
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  Speaker 1: the hippopotamus, Old mister Crow replied. I heard Johnny Green
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  Speaker 1: say so, and he ought to know if any one does.
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  Speaker 1: End of section one section two of the Tale of
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  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog by Arthur Scott Bailey. This LibriVox recording is
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  Speaker 1: in the public domain recording by Jude Summers. Section two,
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  Speaker 1: mister Crow loses something, mister Frog's secret sorrow and tired
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  Speaker 1: tim does a favor. Chapter four, mister Crow loses something.
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  Speaker 1: The picture of the hippopotamus on Farmer Green's barn did
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  Speaker 1: not please Fernan Frog, but in a few moments he
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  Speaker 1: began to smile again. You've made a mistake, he told
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  Speaker 1: old mister Crow with a snicker. When Aunt Polly Woodchuck
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  Speaker 1: said I was as pretty as a picture, she never
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  Speaker 1: could have had this one in mind. Why not, mister
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  Speaker 1: Crow inquired, the eyes and the mouth? Yes, yes, I know,
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  Speaker 1: Ferdinan interrupted, But this creature has a tail, and tails
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  Speaker 1: are terribly out of fashion. I haven't worn one since
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  Speaker 1: I was a tadpole. That was enough for old mister Crow.
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  Speaker 1: He had a tail or tail feathers at least, and
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  Speaker 1: he at once flew into a terrible rage. You've insulted me,
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  Speaker 1: he shouted. Fernan Frog knew then that he had blundered,
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  Speaker 1: so he hastened to mend matters. There there, he said,
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  Speaker 1: in a soothing tone, having a tail is not so
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  Speaker 1: bad after all, for you can always cut it off
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  Speaker 1: if you want to be in style. And he was
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  Speaker 1: surprised to find that his remark only made mister Crow
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  Speaker 1: angrier than ever. Cut off my tail. Indeed, the old
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  Speaker 1: gentleman snorted, I'd be a pretty sight if I did.
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  Speaker 1: Why I wouldn't part with a single tail? Feather on
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  Speaker 1: any account. He continued to scold Ferdinand Frog at the
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: top of his lungs, telling him that he was a
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  Speaker 1: silly fellow and that nobody, unless it was a few
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  Speaker 1: foolish young creatures, thought he was the least bit handsome. Now,
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  Speaker 1: old mister Crow was in such a temper that he
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  Speaker 1: forgot that Farmer Green was inside the barn, and he
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  Speaker 1: made so much noise that Farmer Green heard him and
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  Speaker 1: peeped around the corner of the barn to see what
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  Speaker 1: was going on. A moment later, the old shotgun went
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  Speaker 1: off with a terrific roar. Ferdinand Frog saw mister Crow
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  Speaker 1: spring up and go tearing off towards the woods, and
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  Speaker 1: a long black tail feather floated slowly down out of
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  Speaker 1: the air and settled on the ground near the place
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  Speaker 1: where mister Crow had been standing. After shaking his fist
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  Speaker 1: in mister Crow's direction, Farmer Green disappeared. That's a pity,
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  Speaker 1: mister Frog thought, mister Crow has parted with one of
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  Speaker 1: his tail feathers, and I must find him as soon
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  Speaker 1: as I can and tell him how sorry I am.
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  Speaker 1: Then mister Frog turned to look at the other pictures
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  Speaker 1: which covered the whole side of the big barn. He
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  Speaker 1: beheld many strange creatures, some with necks of enormous length,
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  Speaker 1: some with humps on their backs, and all of them
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  Speaker 1: of amazing colors. But whether they were ringed, streaked, or striped,
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  Speaker 1: not one of them was, in mister Frogg's pait opinion,
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  Speaker 1: one half as beautiful as the hippopotamus. Even he, mister
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  Speaker 1: Frog decided, even he couldn't be called half as handsome
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  Speaker 1: as I am. For once, old mister Crow certainly was mistaken,
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  Speaker 1: and he began to laugh. And while he was laughing,
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  Speaker 1: Farmer Green came out of the barn with a pail
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  Speaker 1: of milk in each hand. Then Ferdinand Frog had a
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: happy thought, why not ask Farmer Green to shoot off
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  Speaker 1: the tail of the hippopotamus. The loss of that ugly
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: tale would improve the creature's looks and make him appear
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  Speaker 1: still more like mister Frog himself. At least that was
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  Speaker 1: mister Frog's own opinion, And he called out to Farmer
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  Speaker 1: Green and suggested to him that he step out behind
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  Speaker 1: the barn and take a shot at the tail of
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  Speaker 1: the hippopotamus. Try your luck, mister Frog coaxed. It's plain
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  Speaker 1: to see that you need practice, or you'd have made
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: mister Crow part with all his tail feathers instead of
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  Speaker 1: only one. And he laughed harder than ever. But Farmer
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  Speaker 1: Green paid little heed to Ferdinand Frog's wheedling, although he
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: did smile and say, I declare, I believe that Bullfrog's
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: jeering at me because I missed the old crow. Chapter five,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Mister Frog's Secret Sorrow. Ferdinand Frog always looked so cheerful
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: that no one ever suspected that he had a secret sorrow.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: But it is true, nevertheless, that something troubled him, though
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: he took great pains not to let a single one
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: of his neighbors know that anything grieved him. His trouble
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  Speaker 1: was simply this. He had never been invited to attend
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  Speaker 1: the singing parties which the Frog family held almost every
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: evening in Cedar Swamp. Now, Ferdinand Frog loved to sing
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  Speaker 1: at night. Indeed, he liked nothing better than to go
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  Speaker 1: to the lake not far from the Beaver Dam, and
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  Speaker 1: practices saws among the lily pads near the shore. He
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: had a deep, powerful bass voice, which one could hear
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: a mile or more across the water on a still evening.
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  Speaker 1: Often he dressed himself with the greatest care, and went
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: to the lake alone, where he stayed half the night
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: and sang so loudly that a good many of the
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: wild folk who lived in the neighborhood thought him a
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: great nuisance. Not caring for music, they objected to being
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: forced to listen to Ferdinand Frog's favorite songs. Why don't
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: you go over to Cedar Swamp if you want to
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: make a noise. One of the Beaver family, who is
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: known as Tired Tim, asked mister Frog one evening. You
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: have come here for nine nights running, and your racket
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: has upset me so that I haven't done a stroke
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: of work in all this time. Mister Frog had puffed
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: himself up and had just opened his mouth to begin
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: a new song, but upon being spoken to so rudely,
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: he closed his mouth quickly and swallowed several times, just
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: for a second or two. He was speechless, he was
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: so surprised, and then presently he began to giggle. I
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: believe you, he said, I believe that you haven't done
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: a stroke of work for ninety nights. He knew, as
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: did everybody else, that Tired Tim was the laziest person
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: for miles around I said nine, not ninety. Tired Tim
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: corrected him, Oh, my mistake, mister Frog replied, you haven't
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: answered my question. Tired Tim reminded him with a wide yawn.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: I asked you why you didn't attend the singing parties
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: over in Cedar Swamp. You could croak your head off
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: there and no one would stop you. But mister Frog
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: shook his head at the same time he sighed no,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: He said, I'd rather sing here on the border of
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: the lake. The trouble is I sing too well for
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: those fellows over in Cedar Swamp. Why don't you join
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: them and teach them how to sing? If you know
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  Speaker 1: so much about it. Tired Tim persisted, Oh, I've no
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: time for that, Ferdinand Frog answered, and then it was
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: his companion's turn to snicker. Hugh appear to have plenty
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: of time to waste here, he observed. It's my opinion
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: that there's just one reason why you don't go to
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the Cedar Swamp singing parties. What's that, mister Frog inquired,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: with a slight trace of uneasiness. They haven't invited you.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: How did you guess that, Ferdinand Frog asked him, and
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: he wished the next moment that he had not put
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: that question to Tired Tim, for he saw at once
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: that he had given his sad secret away. Chapter six
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: Tied Tim does a favor in spite of all Ferdinand
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Frog's teasing, Tired Tim Beaver refused to explain how he
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: happened to know mister Frog's secret. To tell the truth,
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: he had guessed the reason why mister Frog did not
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: attend the Caedar Swamp singing parties. But he hoped that
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog would think that some of the musical Frog
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: family had been talking to him, And he even hinted
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: to mister Frog that maybe it would be possible to
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: get him an invitation to the singing parties. Do you
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: think you could do that, Ferdinand Frog asked him, with
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: great eagerness. I might be able to, but it wouldn't
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: be an easy matter. Tired Tim replied, and I'd expect
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: you to do something for me if I went to
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: so much trouble on your account. I'll do anything for
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: you in return for an invitation to the Cedar Swamp
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: singing parties, Ferdinand Frog declared, very well. Tired Tim told him,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: I'll go over to the swamp now, and when I
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: tell him a few things. I know they'll want you
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: to join em. Ferdinand Frog felt so gay that he
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: stood on his head and waved his feet in the air.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Let's meet here tomorrow night, he suggested. But tired Tim
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: objected to that plan. You would be hanging around this
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: place and singing for four and twenty hours, he grumbled.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: It will be a great deal better if we meet
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: on the edge of the swamp, just as you wish,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Ferdinan Frog exclaimed, And since you're going to Cedar Swamp,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: I'll hop along with you to keep you company. You forget,
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: said tired Tim Beaver. You forget that you haven't been
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: invited yet, have you, mister Frog inquired? Certainly, said tired Tim,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: and grinning over his shoulder, he swam away. Mister Frog
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: watched his friend from the shore. You can't fool me,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: he muttered. Tired Tim invited himself, and I've been stupid
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: not to do Likewise, On the following night, Ferdinand Frog
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: went to the edge of Cedar Swamp, where he waited
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: somewhat impatiently on a log until tired Tim Beaver joined him. Well,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: mister Frog cried, I'm glad to see you, and I
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: hope you've brought my invitation, but tired Tim wouldn't say
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: yes or no. If I succeed in getting you into
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: the Cedar swamp singing parties, will you promise me that
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: you won't sing any more around the lake or near
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: our pond either, he demanded. Ferdinand Frog gave his solemn
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: promise very well. Then tired Tim said, go along over
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: to the swamp there, expecting you. When he heard the
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: good news, Ferdinand Frog was so delighted that he leapt
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: into the air and kicked his heels together, and then,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: forgetting his song promise, he began to bellow at the
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: top of his voice to see yours walp while haste
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: away the first I'll sing a song my voice. I
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: must not waste to day, so I'll not keep you long.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: I simply want to let you know I'm much obliged
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: before I go. Don't mention it, said tired Tim. Don't
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: interrupt me, please, said Ferdinand Frog. I haven't finished thanking
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: you yet. That's only the first verse. How many more
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: are there, Tired Tim inquired with a yawn. Ninety nine,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: mister Frog answered, and he was somewhat surprised and puzzled
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: when tired Tim left him suddenly and plunged into the
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: underbrush and of section two, section three of the Tale
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: of Ferdinand Frog by Arthur Scott Bailey. This LibriVox recording
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: is in the public domain recording by Jude Summers, Section three,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: The Singing Party, the Missing Supper, and the Mysterious Stranger.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: Chapter seven, The Singing Party. Ferdinand Frog lost no time
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: after tired Tim left him. He jumped into the swamp
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: and made straight towards the very middle of it. Whence
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: he could already hear the chorus of the numerous frog family,
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: for the singing party had begun. Mister Frog made all haste,
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: not wishing to miss any more of the fun. Now swimming,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: now leaping from one hummock to another, or sometimes to
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: an old stump, he quickly reached the place where the
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: Frog family were enjoying themselves. Here he is, Several of
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: the singers exclaimed as soon as Ferdinand Frog's head popped
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: out of the water in their midst He saw at
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: once that they had been expecting him, and he smiled
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: and bowed and waited for the company to stop singing
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: and give him a warm greeting. With their cold, damp hands.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: But except for those first few words, no one paid
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: the slightest attention to the newcomer. In fact, nobody even
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: took the trouble to nod to Ferdinand Frog, much less
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: to shake hands with him and tell him that he
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: was welcome. Meanwhile, one song followed another with hardly a
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: pause between them, and mister Frog found that he did
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: not know the words of even one. He was so
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: impatient that at last he climbed upon an old fallen
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: tree trunk which stuck out of the greenish black water,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: and began to roar his favorite song while he beat
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: time for the other singers. The name of that song
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: was a frog on a log in a bog, and
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog thought he couldn't have chosen another so fitting.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: But the rest of the singing party had other ideas.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: They turned about and scowled at mister Frog as if
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: he had done something more most unpleasant. Stop stop, several
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: of them cried, and an important looking fellow near him shouted,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: don't sing that, for pity's sake. Why not? Ferdinand Frog faltered,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: what's the matter with my song? It's my special favorite,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: which I sing at least fifty times each night, regularly.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: It's old stuff, the other told him with a sneer,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: we haven't sung that for a year at least. Ferdinand
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Frog did not try to argue with him, but as
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: soon as he saw another chance, he began a different ditty.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Then a loud groan arose, and somebody stopped him again,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: and mister Frog soon learned that they hadn't sung that
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: one for a year and a half. Though he tried
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: again and again, he had no better luck, but he
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: kept smiling bravely, and finally he asked the company in
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: a loud voice if he wasn't going to have a
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: chance certainly. A number of the singers assured him, your
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: chance is coming later. We shan't forget you, and that
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: made Ferdinand Frog feel better. He told himself that he
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: could wait patiently for a time if it wasn't too long.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Chapter eight, The Missing Supper. Ferdinand Frog began to feel
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: uneasy again. He was afraid that the singers had forgotten
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: their promise to him, But at last they suddenly started
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: a rousing song which made him take heart again. They
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: roared out the chorus in a joyful way, which left
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: no doubt in his mind that his chance was at hand.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: Now that the concert is ended, we'll sit at the
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: banquet and feast, now that the singing suspended, will dine
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: till it's gray in the east. Mister Frog only hoped
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: that the company did not expect him to sing to
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: them all the time that they were banqueting. Needn't think,
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: he murmured under his breath, They needn't think. I don't
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: like good things to eat as well as they do.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: But he let no one see that he was worried.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: That was Ferdinand Frog's way. Almost always, he managed to
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: smile no matter how things went. When the last echoes
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: of the song had died away, a great hubbub arose.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Everybody crowded around mister Frog, and there were cries of Now. Now,
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: he thought, of course, that they wanted to hear him sing,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: So he started once more to sing his favorite song,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: but they stopped him quickly. We've finished the songs for tonight.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: We're ready for the supper. Now where is it? Uh supper?
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: Mister Frog faltered as his jaw dropped. What supper? The
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: supper you're going to give us? The whole company shouted,
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: you know, don't you that we have just made a
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: rule for new members there to furnish a banquet. Ferdinand
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Frog's eyes seemed to bulge further out of his head
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: than ever. I I never heard of this before, he stammered.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Didn't tire Tim tell you about our new rule? Somebody
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: inquired it was his own idea. He never said a
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: word to me about it, Ferdinand Frog declared, with a
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: loud laugh. And I can't give you a supper, for
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: I haven't one ready. Then we'll postpone it until tomorrow night,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: the company told him, hopefully. What does your rule say?
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog rolled his eyes as he put the question
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: to them. It says that the banquet must take place
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: the first night the new member is present. A fat
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: gentleman replied. Then I can't give you any food tomorrow night,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: mister Frog informed them, because it would be against the rule.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Then you can't be a member. A hundred voices croaked.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: I am one now, Ferdinand Frog replied, happily. And what's more,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: I don't see how you can keep me out of
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: your singing parties. There was silence for a time. We've
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: been sold. Someone said, at last, we've no rule to
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: prevent this fellow from coming here. And the worst of
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: it is, as everybody knows, his voice is so loud
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: it will spoil all our songs. Oddly enough, the speaker
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: was the very one who had always objected to inviting
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog to join the singing parties. His own voice
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: had always been the loudest in the whole company, and
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: naturally he did not want anybody with a louder one
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: to come and drown his best notes. But now he
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: couldn't help himself. And thereafter, when the singers met in
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: Cedar Swamp, he always turned greener in the face than ever,
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: and looked as if he were about to burst when
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog opened his mouth its widest and let his
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: voice rumble forth into the night. Chapter nine, The Mysterious Stranger.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: When Ferdinand Frog first came to the Beaver Pond to live,
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: no one knew anything about him. He appeared suddenly, no
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: one knew whence, and at once made himself very much
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: at home. It was no time at all before he
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: could call every one of the big Beaver family by name,
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: and he acted exactly as if the pond belonged to him,
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: instead of to the beavers, whose great grandfathers had damned
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: the stream many years before, but the newcomer was so
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: polite that nobody cared to send him away. At the
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: same time, people couldn't help wondering who the stranger was,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: and where he had come from, and what his plans
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: for the future were. Whenever two or three beavers stopped
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: working long enough to enjoy a pleasant chat, they were
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: sure to talk of the mysterious missas and tell one
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: another what they thought of him. Many were the tales
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: told about the nimble fellow. Some said that he had
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: moved all the way from Farmer Green's duck pond because
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Johnny Green had tried to catch him, while others declared
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: that Ferdinand Frog was a famous singer who had come
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: to that quiet spot in order to rest his voice,
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: which had become harsh from too much use. Indeed, there
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: were so many stories about the stranger that it was
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: hard to know which to believe, especially after old mister
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: Crow informed Brownie Bear that, in his opinion, Ferdinand Frog
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: was a slippery fellow. I wouldn't be surprised, mister Crow
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: had said, with a wise wag of his head, I
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: shouldn't be surprised if his real name was Ferdinand Frod. Anyhow,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: there was one thing that almost all the beaver colony
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: agreed upon. They were of one opinion as to mister
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Frog's clothes, which they thought must be very fashionable, because
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: they were like no others that had ever been seen
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: before in those parts. There was one young gentleman, however,
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: the Bow of the village, who disputed everybody, saying that
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: he believed that Ferdinand Frog must be wearing old clothes
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: that were many years behind the times. Now, there was
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: one lazy beaver known as tired Tim, who had nothing
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: better to do than to go straight to mister Frog
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: and repeat what he heard. To tire Tim's surprise, for
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: he had expected mister Frog to lose his temper. To
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: his surprise, that gentleman appeared much amused by the bit
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: of gossip. He shook with silent laughter for a time,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: quite as if he were saving his voice to use
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: that evening. And then he said, so, your young friend
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: thinks I'm not in style. Eh, well, I'll tell you something.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: He's right in a way, and in another way he isn't.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: The reason why I'm not in style is because I
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: always aim to keep five years ahead of everybody else.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: Five years from now, and your neighbors will all be
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: wearing clothes like mine. Can't we ever catch up with you?
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: Tired Tim asked him. There's only one way you can do.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: That was mister Frog's mysterious answer, and he would say
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: no more. End of section three, Section four of the
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: Tale of Ferdinand Frogg by Arthur Scott Bailey. This LibriVox
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. Recording by Jude Summers.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: Section four, Catching up with Mister Frog. Mister Frog is
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: in no hurry and a bad blunder. Chapter ten, Catching
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: up with mister Frog. Tired Tim Beaver asked mister Frog
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: point blank how a person might catch up with him
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: in the matter of clothes if you managed to dress
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: in a style that's five years ahead of the times.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: I should like to know the way to be just
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: as fashionable, Tired Tim said, But he got no help
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: then from mister Frog. Alferdinan Frog would say was that
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: he'd be glad to oblige a friend, but he couldn't
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: and wouldn't be hurried. And though the unhappy eager Tim
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: teased and begged him to tell his secret, mister Frog
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: only smiled the more cheerfully and said nothing. It was
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: maddening for Tired Tim, though mister Frog seemed to be
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: enjoying himself hugely, and the result was that Tired Tim
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: Beaver returned to the village in the Pond in a
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: terrible state of mind since he told everyone else what
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: he had learned about Ferdinand Frei and his clothes. It
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: was only a short time before the whole Beaver family
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: was so stirred up that they couldn't do a stroke
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: of work. Fernan Frog was in everybody's mouth, so to speak,
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: And at last old Grandaddy Beaver hit upon a plan.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: Why don't you get somebody to make you a suit
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: exactly like mister Frog's, he asked Tired Tim. So Tired
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: Tim took Granddaddy's advice. That very night he disappeared to
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: swagger back in a few days in a costume that
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: made him appear almost like mister Frog's twin brother if
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: one didn't look at his face. And there were some
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: among the villagers who even declared that Tired Tim's mouth
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: seemed whiter than it had been and more like mister
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: Frog's when they asked Tired Tim if his tailor hadn't
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: stretched his mouth for him. He replied, no, that he
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: had been smiling a good deal for a day or two,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: and perhaps that was what made his mouth looked different. Well,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: the whole beaver village was delighted with Tired Tim's new suit.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: Wait till mister Frog sees you, people cried, he will
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: be so surprised. And someone swam away in great haste
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: to find mister Frog and ask him to come to
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: the lower end of the pond where all the houses were.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: But when Ferdinand Frog arrived, everybody was disappointed, and especially
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: Tired Tim, who had felt very proud in his gorgeous
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: new clothes, for he saw at once that mister Frog
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: was a raid from head to toe in an entirely
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: new outfit. He looked almost like a rainbow, so brilliant
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: were the colors of his costume. At the same time,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: Tired Tim put on as brave a front as he could, and,
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: drawing near to mister Frog, he said, what do you
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: think of my new suit? Ferdinand Frog looked at him
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: as if he hadn't noticed him before. Your suit, it's
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: all right, he replied, for one who isn't particular, but
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: it's not far enough ahead of the times for me.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: I'd hate to be caught wearing it. It was a
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: bitter blow for tired tim Beaver. In fact, he felt
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: more tired than ever, and he sank to the bottom
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: of the pond to rest where his friends couldn't see him.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: As for the other members of the Beaver family, they
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: all went home with a great longing inside them. There
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: wasn't a single one of them that wasn't eager to
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: wear clothes exactly as far ahead of the times as
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: were those of the elegant stranger Ferdinand Frog Chapter eleven,
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog is in no hurry. Although everybody in the
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: Beaver village looked worried, mister Frog seemed to be all
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: the more cheerful. He knew well enough that there was
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: hardly one beaver in the pond that didn't wish and
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: long for clothes which were, like mister Frog's, five years
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: ahead of the times. As day after day passed, not
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: only were the beavers unable to do a single stroke
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: of work, they were so upset that they could scarcely
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: eat or sleep. And at last, the old villagers, such
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: as Grandaddy Beaver, began to see that something would have
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: to be done. There was the dam which needed mending,
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: and there was the winter food which had to be gathered.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: So Grandaddy Beaver went to Ferdinand Frog one day and
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: told him that he simply must come to the rescue
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: of the pond folk and tell them how they might
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: have clothes as far ahead of the times as were
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: his own. Why, mister Frog inquired, what's the trouble They
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: can't work, Grandaddy Beaver told him, and there's the dam
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: to be fixed, and tree tops to be cut and
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: stored for food. Because winter's a comin' and there's no
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: way we can stop it. I'll tell you what you
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: and your people can do. Ferdinand Frog replied, Just bury
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: yourselves in the mud during the winter, as I do,
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: and you'd have no use for a dam, nor for
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: food either. But Grandaddy Beaver explained that though such a
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: plan might suit a frog exceedingly well, for a beaver,
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: it would never do at all. You have got us
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: into this scrape, he told mister Frog, so it's only
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: fair that you should help us out of it. Ferdinand
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: Frog then did a number of things, all of which
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: were intended to let Grandaddy Beaver see that what he
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: asked couldn't be done. Mister Frog held up his hands
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: with the palms out and rolled his eyes. He shut
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: his great mouth together as if he did not intend
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: to say another word. He looked so determined that Grandaddy
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: Beaver's heart sank. And then when Grandaddy Beaver had almost
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: given up all hope, then mister Frog said, suddenly, I'll
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: consent to help you, because I see that it's my duty.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: Good Grandaddy Beaver cried. I told people that I knew
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: you'd come to our rescue, for you have such a
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: kind face. And now tell me, he bade Ferdinand Frog
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: with great eagerness, while he held a hand behind one
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: of his ears in order to hear more clearly. But
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: mister Frog was not ready to give away his secret.
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: He winked at Grandaddy Beaver and poked his fingers into
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: the old gentleman's ribs. Not so fast, my lad, said
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: mister Frog, who was certainly many years younger than Grandaddy Beaver.
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: I'm not prepared to explain everything to you just yet.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: You come to the big rock on the other side
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: of the pond as soon as it's dark tonight, and
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: bring with you everybody who wants to know how to
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: get clothes like mine. Now do exactly as I say,
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: mister Frog cautioned grand and everything will be made easy.
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: Chapter twelve, A bad blunder. When it was almost dark,
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: Grandaddy Beaver swam across the pond to the big rock
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: where Ferdinand Frog had told him to come. And, trooping
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: after Daddy was almost everybody in the village, Not counting
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: the women and children, there were eleven of them. They
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: climbed upon the rock looking for mister Frog, but he
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: was nowhere in sight. He'll be here in a minute
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: or two, probably, Grandaddy Beaver said, hopefully, For all he
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: looked a bit anxious. Then somebody spied a neat building
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: near by, which not one of them had noticed before.
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: What's this strange house? People asked one another. Is this
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: where mister Frog lives? But nobody seemed to know the
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: answer to that question. It can't be a shop, Grandaddy decided,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: for there's no sign on it, and nobody would have
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: a shop without a sign. Now, the door of the
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: little building was shut and fastened, and the window shades
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: were pulled carefully down. It certainly looked as if nobody
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: was at home, but Suddenly there came a sound that
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: made the Beaver family jump. It came from the house,
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: there was no doubt of that. In fact, it came
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: right through the key hole, and it was like nothing
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: in the world but a sneeze. A number of people
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: were all ready to jump in the water and swim away.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: They were so startled. And then a snicker followed the sneeze,
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: and by that time Grandaddy Beaver and his friends guessed
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: who was inside the building. It was Ferdinand Frog, and
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: he had been watching his callers all the time through
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: the keyhole and listening to everything that they said. A
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: few felt slightly uneasy as they tried to remember exactly
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: what remarks they had made about mister Frog himself. Come out.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: They all cried, as soon as they had recovered from
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: their surprise, we want to see you, and they formed
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: a half circle in the door yard. Presently, the door
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: swung out, as if somebody had pushed it open. And
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: there on the inside of the open door, which was
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: flung back against the outside of the building, they all
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: saw a sign which said mister Ferdinand Frog, unfashionable tailor,
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: all the styles five years ahead of the times. People
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: began exclaiming that it was just like Ferdinand Frog, who
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: was an odd fellow to have his sign painted on
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: the inside of his door instead of on the outside.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: It will be all the style five years from now,
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: he retorted. So that was mister Frog's secret. He was
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: a tailor himself, and there he was ready to make
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: clothes for all of them. It was almost too good
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: to be true. But there he stood good in the
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: doorway with a tape around his neck, smiling and bowing.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: You'd better form in line, He suggested. You can come
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: in through the front door, I'll measure you, and you
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: can pass out the back way. Don't crowd please. Now
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: that was just where mister Frog made a great blunder,
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: but he didn't find out till it was too late.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: End of section four, Section five of the Tale of
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog by Arthur Scott Bailey. This LibriVox recording is
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: in the public domain recording by Jude Summers. Section five
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: The sixty inch Meal. An unpleasant mix up and everyone
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: is Happy. Chapter thirteen, A sixty inch meal. Mister Frog's
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: scheme of measuring the Beaver family for new suits had
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: just one drawback. The Beaver family liked it too much.
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: So pleased were they over the prospect of having unfashionable
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: clothes like mister Frog's. At last, that all of them
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: wanted to be measured, not once, but several times. And
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: each and every one, as soon as mister Frog had
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: taken his measurements, went out through the back door and
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: slipped around the little building to wait again at the
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: foot of the line. Now mister Frog was a spry worker.
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: He passed his tape around his customers and jotted down
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: figures on flat black stones as fast as he could
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: make his fingers fly. And if it hadn't been for
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: just one thing, Ferdinand Frog would have been quite happy.
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: But beginning with his first customer, he was somewhat troubled,
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: for in the whole company he found not one who
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: had brought his pocket book with him. What's the matter,
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: he asked Granddaddy Beaver. When the old gentleman's turn came.
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: Didn't you tell him what I said about pocket books?
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: I certainly did, Grandaddy replied, I told them to be
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: sure to leave their pocket books at home. Mister Frog
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: gulped once or twice, as if he were swallowing something unpleasant,
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: and he looked most surprised. Why that's exactly wrong, he cried,
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: Is that so Grandaddy Beaver quavered? Then I must have
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: made a mistake. You know, I'm a little hard of hearing.
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: Never mind, Fernan Frog answered, for he always took his
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: troubles lightly. Bring em when you come to have your
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: clothes fitted, and it'll be all right. So he worked on,
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: but by and by he began to grow uneasy again.
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: And now and then he paused and went to the window,
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: where he peered somewhat anxiously at the beavers who waited
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: before his door in a long line. It's queer, mister
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: Frog exclaimed aloud, at last here. I've been measuring em
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: for an hour and a half, and there's just as
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: many of em left. I'll have to stop soon, he continued,
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: for I'm going to a singing party to night, and
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: I don't want to be late. His customers, however, wouldn't
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: hear of his leaving. The moment mister Frog's remarks passed
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: down the line, the Beaver family began to jostle and
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: push one another. They crowded inside the tailor's shop, and
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: to get rid of them, mister Frog worked faster than ever,
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: so great was his haste that he measured everybody wrong,
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: whereas before he had measured them correctly, while merely scratching
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: wrong figures upon the stones. And finally he stopped suddenly,
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: as Grandaddy Beaver stepped forward to be measured for the
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: fourth time, it dawned upon mister Frog that he had
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: measured him several times already, but Ferdinand Frog said nothing
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: at all. Holding one end of his tape in his mouth,
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: he passed the other end around Grandaddy's plump body. All
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: at once. A cry of dismay came up from the customers,
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: who were looking on while they waited. He's swallowing the tape,
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: they cried, pointing to mister Frog. It was true. Beneath
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: their horrified gaze, the tape measure disappeared little by little
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: inside mister Frog's mouth, and before any of them could
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: come to his senses and seize the end of the
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: yellow strip, it had vanished from view completely. Of course,
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: they saw that the tailor could work no longer that evening,
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: so they filed sadly out of the shop. How did
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: it happen, they asked mister Frog, who was already locking
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: his door. The tape stuck to my tongue. He explained,
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: everything does you know? But it doesn't matter because I
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: was hungry and now I feel better. So mister Frog
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: reached the singing party in time after all, Chapter fourteen
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: an unpleasant mix up. For a long time after he
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: took the measurements of the Beaver family, mister Frog kept
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: carefully out of sight. Though several of the beavers visited
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: his shop every day, they always found the door locked
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: and the shades drawn. But from various odd sounds such
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: as giggles and titters and snickers, which they heard by
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: listening at the keyhole, they knew that the tailor was inside.
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: To all their knocks and calls, however, mister Frog made
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: no other response. He was working busily and he did
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: not want to be interrupted. At last, to the delight
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: of everybody, a notice appeared one evening upon mister Frog's
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: door which said tomorrow will be fitting day. Well, never
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: was such excitement known in the Beaver family, unless it
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: was when the great freshet came and almost washed away
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: the dam. And it was lucky that there was no
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: freshet upon mister Frog's fitting day, for there would have
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: been no one except the women and children to do
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: any work. Some of the young dandies even spent the
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: night right in front of mister Frog's tailor's shop in
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: order to be among the first to try on their
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: new clothes, which were to be five years ahead of
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: the times. When mister Frog opened his door bright and
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: early the following morning, he had to beg his eager
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: customers to keep order. There's a suit here for everybody,
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: he announced. But if you crowd into my shop, I
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: may get the garments mixed, and that would be terrible.
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: So the beaver gentlemen were as quiet and orderly as
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: they could be. But as for mister Frog himself, he
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: jumped around as if he were standing in a hot
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: frying pan. He hustled his customers into their suits in
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: no time, assuring each one that his garments fitted him perfectly,
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: and asking him please to step out through the back
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: door and wait. By the time the last beaver had
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: on his new clothes and mister Frog followed him into
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: the back yard, the tailor found that there was a
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: frightful uproar outside. There wasn't one of the beavers who
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: didn't claim that there was something wrong about his new clothes,
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: but whether sleeves, trousers, or coat tails were too short
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: or too long, or whether they were too loose or
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: too tight. Mister Frog declared that they were exactly as
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: they should be because they were bound to be in
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: style in five years time, and nobody, so, he said,
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: could prove otherwise. Of course, the Beaver family was far
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: from satisfied. Though they had what they had been wishing for,
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: they couldn't help thinking that they looked very queer, as
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: indeed they did, but Ferdinand Frog told the crowd that
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: it was only because they weren't used to being dressed
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: in that fashion. He said he certainly was pleased with
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: their appearance, and that he had never seen any company
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: that looked the least bit like them. There was one beaver, however,
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: who shouted angrily that he knew his suit wasn't fashionable
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: and that he wouldn't accept it. Chapter fifteen, Everyone is Happy.
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: Mister Frog led the angry beaver around to the front
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: of his shop while the others followed and pointed to
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: his side. There, he said, don't you see that I
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: claim to be an unfashionable tailor. You'll have to keep
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: that suit and pay me for it too, and so
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: will everybody else. But the whole beaver family cried out
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: that they objected. No one ever pays his tailor, they
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: told mister Frog, it's not the fashionable thing to do.
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: Even then, Ferdinand Frog continued to smile at them. He
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: was such an agreeable chap. I know it's not fashionable now,
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: he admitted, but it will be five years from now,
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: and since it's my way to collect on delivery, I'll
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: thank you to step up one at a time and
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: pay me, and please don't crowd, he added. There was
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: really no need of that last warning, because nobody made
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: a move. Mister Frog, however, was not dismayed. He leaped
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: suddenly into the air and alighted directly in front of
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: a beaver known among his friends as Stingy Steve, the
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: very one to whom mister Frog had just shown his sign.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: Pay up, please, Ferdinand Frog said, how much do I
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: owe you? The uneasy beaver asked him, sixty, mister Frog
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: told him with a grin. Stingy Steve thrust his hand
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: inside the pocket of his new trousers, from which he
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: slowly drew one of mister Frog's tape measures, of which
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: the tailor had at least a dozen. Mister Frog was
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: always tucking them away in odd places. Here, stingy Steve cried,
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: here's your pay, sixty inches, neither more nor less. But
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog only laughed and told him that he didn't
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: mean inches. That he explained was no pay at all.
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: I know, stingy Steve replied, I know it's not the
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: fashionable way to pay a bill at present, but it
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: will be five years from now. And what's more, you
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: can't prove that what I say isn't true. For a
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: few moments, mister Frog stood there gasping, and pretty soon
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: he noticed that his customers were all busily picking up
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: chips and sticks and pebbles. At first, he thought they
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: were going to throw them at him, and he was
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: all ready to jump, but he soon found that he
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: was mistaken. Here here's your pay, mister Frog. They all
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: began to cry, and to their astonishment, mister Frog began
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: to laugh. I don't want any pay, he declared. Will
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: you all promise to wear your new clothes if I
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: make them free? Yes, yes, yes, sounded on all sides.
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: Then it's a bargain, Ferdinand Frog shouted, and he leaped
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: into the air and kicked his heels together three times.
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: After that, he turned a back somersault, and then he
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: rolled over and over until he landed with a great
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: splash in the pond, deep down on the muddy bottom.
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: Mister Frog laughed as if he could never stop. The
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: beavers on the bank could neither see nor hear him,
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: and he knew there was no danger of their thinking
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: him impolite, especially when he said, they don't even know
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: that I've played a trick on them, And what a
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: terrible sight they are. I've never seen any company that
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: looked the least bit like them. And of section five,
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: section six of The Tail of Ferdinand Frog by Arthur
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: Scott Bailey. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: recording by Jude Summers, Section six Stop that a long,
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: sharp bill and making buttonholes. Chapter sixteen, stop that. On
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: a cool summer's morning, Ferdinand Frog was sitting among the
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: reeds near the bank of the pond when a harsh
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: voice suddenly said stop that. Looking up, mister Frog saw
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: a huge bird standing on one leg in the water
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: watching him. The stranger was actually so big that mister
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: Frog hadn't noticed him to be sure. He had seen
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: what he thought was a stick stuck upright in the
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: muddy bottom of the pond. That was really the stranger's leg,
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: but mister Frog hadn't taken the trouble to glance upwards
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: and see what was at the top of it. Of course,
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: mister Frog was frightened as soon as he discovered his mistake,
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: for the bird had a great long bill. Without being told,
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog knew that that bill could open like a
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: trap and seize him too, but he showed not the
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: least sign that he was even disturbed. Stop that, I say,
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: the stranger repeated, before mister Frog had so much as
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: said a word. Stop what mister Frog asked, Stop sticking
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: your tongue out at me, the other commanded. In spite
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: of his alarm. When he heard that, Ferdinand Frog began
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: to laugh. I beg your pardon, he said, but I
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: think you are mistaken. I wasn't sticking my tongue out
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: at you. I was only catching flies. Mister Frog paid
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: no attention to the sneering laugh that the stranger gave.
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: You See, he went on, I'm having my breakfast, and
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: this is how I manage it. I wait, here without
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: moving until a fly comes my way. Then I dart
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: my tongue out as quick as lightning. My tongue, mister
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: Frog explained, is fastened at the front of my mouth
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: instead of at the back, so I can often reach
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: a fly when he thinks he is perfectly safe. And furthermore,
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: my tongue is so sticky that if it touches a
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: fly he can't get away. Then I swallow that one
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: and wait for another. A likely story. The big bird scoffed,
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: I've been watching you for a long time. Mister Frog
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: shivered when he heard that, and I know what I'm
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: talking about. There, there you go again, He shrieked angrily
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: as Ferdinand Frog's tongue flew out and captured another fly,
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: so quickly that the stranger couldn't see just what had happened.
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: Listen to me a moment, mister Frog said, Like most people,
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: I have to eat, and when I eat, I can't
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: help sticking out my tongue. So I'd suggest that if
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: you don't care to watch me at my breakfast, you'd
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: better go away. It certainly isn't my fault that you're
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: standing right in front of me, but the stranger declined
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: to move. If if you really meant to be polite,
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: he grumbled, you'd at least turn your back when you
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: stick out your tongue. But mister Frog never stirred. He
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: was afraid that the moment he turned his back, the
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: big bird would pounce upon him. It's not necessary for
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: me to turn around now, he explained. I've finished my breakfast,
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: and I hope you've had yours too. I'm sorry to
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: say that I have. The stranger answered with a sigh
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: as he looked longingly at plump mister Frog. I couldn't
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: eat another mouthful if it sat right in front of me.
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: And then Ferdinand Frog felt as if a great weight
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: had been lifted from his mind. He smiled all over
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: his face to show the stranger that he was glad
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: to see him. Ah, mister Frog cried, Then we can
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: have a friendly chat together. I always like to talk
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: with travelers. What a long sharp bill you have? Now?
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: Some people would think that a rude remark, but it
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: seemed to please the stranger immensely, Chapter seventeen. A long
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: sharp bill. Certainly, it was an odd remark that Ferdinand
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: Frog made about the stranger's wicked looking bill, but knowing
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: that its owner had eaten until he had no appetite
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: left for the time being, mister Frog forgot his fear,
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: and he couldn't help being curious about the big bird
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: because he had never seen another like him. Of course,
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: what mister Frog said would have annoyed some people a
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: great deal, for he had just the same as told
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: the stranger that he had a long, sharp nose. But
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: luckily it happened that the newcomer was very vain, both
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: of the length and the sharpness of his bill. So
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: he liked mister Frog's comment, and he promptly forgot his
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: displeasure over mister Frog's tongue. Yes, he said, in response
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: to Ferdinand Frog's speech, there isn't another bill like mine
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: for twenty miles around except my wife's. You don't live
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: in this neighborhood, do you, mister Frog inquired. My home
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: is beyond the second Mountain, the stranger informed him, and
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog was glad to hear that the huge fellow
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: dwelt no nearer. What's your name, friend, mister Frog then asked,
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: my name? The giant bird replied, my name is g
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: B Heron. G B. Mister Frog exclaimed, turning a pale
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: green color. What do those letters stand for? Not grizzly bear?
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: I hope he had heard of but had never seen
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: a grizzly bear, And for a moment he thought that
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: perhaps he had met one at last. But the stranger
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: soon set his fresh fears at rest. My full name,
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: he told mister Frog, is great Blue Heron. But plain,
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: mister Heron will do when you address me. I hope
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: i'll see you sooner the next time we meet, mister
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: Frog said, and he resolved that he would keep a
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: sharp eye out for mister Heron so that he might
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: have plenty of time to hide the moment he caught
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: sight of him. There's no doubt that we'll meet again,
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: mister Heron replied. I expect to come here to live,
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: and I flew over here to day to look around
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: a bit. Are there many in your family? No, mister
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: Frog hastened to answer, there's only myself living in this pond.
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: But you must have plenty of relations somewhere, mister g
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: be Heron insisted. If I come to live and anything
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: happened to you, I'd want to tell your family, well,
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: I have a few relations to be sure, mister Frog admitted,
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: but they don't amount to much. They're a stringy lot,
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: I can tell you. Mister Heron looked at him as
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: if he couldn't quite believe that statement. That's odd, he observed.
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: Now you're nice and plump. Oh I'm too fat, Ferdinand
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: Frog said, Aunt Polly Woodchuck tells me that if I
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: get much fatter, i'll lose my good looks. I don't
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: agree with her, said mister Heron. You look good to me.
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: And now it was mister Frog's turn to be pleased,
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: for he was very vain. I'm glad to hear it,
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 1: he cried. And I'll tell you a secret. I've always
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: been quite satisfied with myself until my eyes fell on you.
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 1: Oh if only I had such a bill as yours.
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: You like my bill, then, mister Heron asked him. Yes,
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog answered, and it must be very handy too.
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: What for? Mister Heron inquired, why for making buttonholes? Ferdinand
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: Frog exclaimed, Chapter eighteen, making buttonholes. Mister Heron couldn't help
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: being interested button holes in what? He asked Ferdinand Frog?
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: Why in suits of clothes? Of course? The tailor answered,
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: if you had a tailor's shop. As I have, you'd
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: find that bill of yours a handy thing to have.
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: When you wanted to make a buttonhole in a piece
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: of cloth, all you'd need to do would be to
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: stick your bill through it. I'd like to try that,
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: mister Heron remarked, then come right over to my shop.
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: Mister Frog urged him, I'll let you make all the
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: buttonholes you want. Very well, mister Heron agreed, I'll make
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: buttonholes until I get hungry. That's a good idea, mister
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: Frog cried, and his new friend smiled, for he thought
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: the tailor must be very stupid. He intended to stay
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: with mister Frog until he was hungry enough to eat him,
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: and no one who wasn't dull witted could have failed
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: to grasp his plan. Well. They started off together, and
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: they arrived shortly afterward at the tailor's shop. Observing that
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: mister Heron was altogether too big to squeeze inside the
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: tiny building, mister Frog entered it to reappear soon with
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: an armful of cloth. On this, mister Frog proceeded to
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: mark a row of dots, and then he hung the
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: cloth upon some reeds. There, he announced, can you hit
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: the mark, certainly I can, mister Heron replied, and quick
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: as lightning, his shot bill darted out and made a
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: neat hole exactly where every dot had been. Splendid perfect,
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: mister Frog exclaimed, and thereupon he brought forth more cloth.
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 1: In a surprisingly short time, mister Heron had made eighty
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: seven buttonholes. But mister Frog noticed that beginning with the
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 1: seventy seventh buttonhole, the stranger's aim began to fail. He
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: did not hit the dots quite squarely, and he seemed
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: not to have his mind on his work. What's the matter,
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: mister Frog inquired, Are you getting tired? No, not tired,
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: mister Heron told him. Are your eyes troubling you? The
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: tailor asked him, No, I can see well enough, mister
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: Heron replied, but I'm beginning to feel a bit faint,
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 1: and I think I've made enough buttonholes for one day.
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: But mister Frog said that he had a special suit
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: which he was making for somebody, and he begged mister
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: Heron to make the buttonholes and that too. Mister Heron frowned,
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: but presently he yielded, telling mister Frog to hurry, for
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: he had another matter to attend to. So the tailor
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 1: leaped into his shop once more, and for a few
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: moments he was very busy arranging another strip of cloth
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: so that the stranger might make button holes in it.
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: When all was ready, mister Heron stepped up to do
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 1: his work. He was just about to strike when he
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: suddenly paused, Who's going to have this suit? He asked
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: the tailor. Mister Fishawk, said the tailor, do you know him?
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: I should say I did. Mister Heron cried, and he's
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 1: no friend of mine. I assure you, I only wish
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: he was behind this cloth. I'd run my bill clean
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: through him. A cold, cruel glitter came into mister Haron's eyes,
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: and when he struck, he struck with all his power,
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 1: as if he were driving his wicked bill through mister Fishawk.
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: At that very moment, he made only that one thrust,
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: and he did not withdraw his bill either. Instead, he
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: set up a terrible squawking and began to flounder about
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 1: on the bank of the pond. Help help, he cried
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: in a muffled voice, But Ferdinand Frog only smiled and
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: made no move to assist his new acquaintance. The truth
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: of the matter was that he had hidden a block
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: of wood behind the cloth, and mister Heron had driven
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: his bill into it so far that he couldn't pull
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 1: it out. With a loud chuckle, mister Frog jumped into
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: the water and swam away, And that very day he
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: moved to Black Creek without troubling himself to learn how
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: mister Heron got himself out of his difficulty. But the
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: tailor couldn't help thinking what a handy thing it would
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: be to have a bill like mister Heron's. He can
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: even make buttonholes in wood, mister Frog exclaimed, end of
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 1: section six, section seven of The Tale of Ferdinand Frogg
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: by Arthur Scott Bailey. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: public domain recording by Jude Summers, Section seven, The Swimming Teacher,
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 1: Disturbing the Neighbors and mud Baths, Chapter nineteen, The Swimming Teacher.
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: It surprised the wild folk in Pleasant Valley when they
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: learned that mister Frog had forsaken the Beaver Pond for
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: a new home on the bank of Black Creek. When
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: his friends asked him why he had moved, mister Frog
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 1: told them he had made up his mind that the
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: pond was too damp for the good of his health. Besides,
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: Black Creek was nearer Cedar Swamp, where the Frog family
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: held their singing parties. Of course, the real reason for
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog's change of scene was that he was afraid
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: mister Heron might return to the beaver pond some day
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: to look for him, and when that happened, mister Frog
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: did not care to be there. In his new home, however,
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 1: he felt quite at his ease, and he set out
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: at once to make himself agreeable to his neighbors. The
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: nearest of these were long Bill Wren and his wife,
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 1: who at that time chanced to have a family of
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: five growing children. Mister Frog took a great interest in
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 1: the youngsters, who were already big enough to leave their
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 1: ball shaped home, which hung among the reeds, and hop
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: about on the bank of the creek, and even fly
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: a bit. Now and then. Quite often mister Frog stopped
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: to look at long Bill's children and tell their parents
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: how handsome they were. I suppose, he said to their
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: father one day, I suppose you are going to teach
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: them to swim. Long Bill Wren hadn't thought of that,
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: and he said quickly that he was afraid it wouldn't
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 1: be safe, But mister Frog replied that it certainly wouldn't
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: be safe. Not to living as they did so close
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 1: to the water, they're liable to tumble in almost any day,
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: He said, I suppose you can swim yourself. No, Long
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: Bill answered, looking somewhat worried. I've never learned how. Mister
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 1: Frog appeared greatly surprised by his neighbor's reply. Then I'd
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: be glad to teach your children, he offered. Swimming is
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: a very simple matter, and when you're young is the
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: time to learn. I began when I was a tadpole,
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: and knowing how to swim has saved my life a
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: good many times. Naturally, the children were eager to have
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: a lesson at once, and long Bill Wren was about
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: to yield to their teasing when his wife happened to
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: come flying home. What's going on here, she asked, sharply,
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 1: for she saw that something unusual was afoot and when
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 1: her husband explained mister Frog had kindly offered to teach
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: the children to swim, she cried the idea, I won't
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: have it. Long Bill Wren looked uncomfortable. He was afraid
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: his wife had hurt mister Frog's feelings. But mister Frog
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: smiled and bowed politely to missus Wren. Surely you're not
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: afraid your children will drown in my care, he cried, No,
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: She told him. The trouble is, I'd be nervous because
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 1: one of my young brothers was eaten by a member
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: of your family. Ferdinand Frog's face fell, but not for
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: long I don't see how that could have come about,
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: he declared. It must have been an accident. Perhaps, long
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: Bill's wife replied, anyhow, I want no such accidents to
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: happen to my children, and she looked sternly at her
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: new neighbor. Mister Frog glanced away uneasily. I'm afraid, he observed,
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: you do not trust me. But I assure you I
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: had no idea of eating any of your little ones.
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 1: They'd be perfectly safe with me. Why every one of
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: them is so plump, I'd never be able to decide
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: which one to choose first, he often wondered afterward. Why
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: missus Wren promptly called all her children into the house
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty, disturbing the neighbors. It was no wonder that
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 1: long Bill Wren's wife did not care for Ferdinand Frog
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: after his blundering remark about her children. Though her husband
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: often told her that mister Frog must have been merely joking,
• 1:15:58
  Speaker 1: she insisted he was not a safe person to have
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: in the neighborhood. That mister Frog certainly is a queer one,
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 1: she said to her husband one day. I was watching
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: him this morning, and what do you suppose I saw
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: him do? Missus Wren did not wait for long Bill
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: to answer her question. Mister Frog actually pulled off his
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 1: own skin. She cackled nervously. Cattails and pussy willows, long
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 1: Bill Wren exclaimed, which was his way of showing he
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: was surprised. Mister Frog must be ill. Maybe I ought
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: to go and tell Aunt Polly Woodchuck the herb doctor
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: and ask her to come here at once. His wife, however,
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 1: shook her head. He can't be ill, she said, why not?
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: His appetite is still good. She explained, I saw mister
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: Frog swallow his skin after he had pulled it off,
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 1: and it didn't seem to disagree with him. He went
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: in swimming right afterwards. Ah, Longbill exclaimed, that's a very
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 1: dangerous thing to do. At least I've often heard Johnny
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: Green say that a boy ought not to go in
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 1: the water sooner than a full hour after he has
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: had a meal. There he is now. Missus Wren cried abruptly,
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 1: there's mister Frog peeping out of the doorway. On one
• 1:17:20
  Speaker 1: side of his ball shaped house. Long Bill could see
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 1: Ferdinand Frog paddling about in Black Creek. While they were
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: watching him. He sank before their eyes, and after a
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 1: time they couldn't help feeling uneasy because their odd neighbor
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: did not show himself again. I'm afraid, long Bill whispered
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: at last. I'm afraid he was taken with a cramp,
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: for that's what you get by swimming too soon after
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: a meal. So Johnny Green says, I'm glad now that
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: we didn't let mister Frog teach our children to swim,
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 1: because it's easy to see that he's a careless fellow.
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: So were eat were long Bill and his wife over
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 1: mister Frog's disappearance that they hurried out and told all
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: their neighbors about it, and soon a crowd had gathered
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: upon the bank of the creek to watch the spot
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: where mister Frog had vanished. They stayed there a long time,
• 1:18:17
  Speaker 1: but to their great alarm, their missing friend did not reappear.
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: I hope he's safe, old mister Turtle piped in his thin,
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: quavering voice. He's making a new suit for me, and
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: I'd hate to have anything happen to him. What's this
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: a party? A voice called suddenly from under the bank,
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: and then mister Frog, himself, looking fine and fit, hopped
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: up and stood before the company with a broad grin
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: on his face. Where have you been? They shouted, We
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 1: were worried about you. Oh, I've been having a mud
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 1: bath at the bottom of the creek. Mister Frog told them. Mudbaths,
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: you know, are very helpful, and I advise you all
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 1: to try one Chapter twenty one mud baths. Though mister
• 1:19:11
  Speaker 1: Frog agreed cheerfully to show his neighbors how to take
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 1: a mud bath, there wasn't even one of them that
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: accepted his offer. To be sure, old mister Turtle remarked
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: that there was a good deal to be said about
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: mud baths, and then he waddled to the water's edge
• 1:19:27
  Speaker 1: and swam away. You heard what he said, mister Frog continued,
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 1: turning to those who were left. It's simple enough. All
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: one has to do is dive down to the bottom
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: of the creek and bury himself snugly in the soft mud.
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: How do you breathe, somebody inquired, Oh, that's simple enough,
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: mister Frog replied, you breathe through your skin. Smiles appeared
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: on the faces of his listeners, and here and there
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 1: a cough sounded. It was plain that the company had
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: little faith in mister Frog's easy explanation. Doesn't it hurt
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 1: your skin to breathe through it? Some one else asked,
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: What if it does, Ferdinand Frog retorted, when your skin
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 1: becomes worn, pull it off. Everybody laughed heartily at his answer,
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: or at least everybody except long Bill Wren and his wife.
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 1: They exchanged a thoughtful look, for they knew mister Frog's
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 1: ways better than his other neighbors did. Now, Ferdinand Frog
• 1:20:36
  Speaker 1: did not mind the laughter at all. Of course, he
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 1: went on, you can't breathe through your skin quite so
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 1: well as you can in the regular way. After you
• 1:20:47
  Speaker 1: have stayed in the mud, awhile, you'll want a regular
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: breath of fresh air. So then you come up to
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: the top of the water. Cat's tails and pussy willows,
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 1: long Bill Wren cried out, I'm sure I shall never
• 1:21:01
  Speaker 1: take a mudbath. They seemed to me to be very dangerous.
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: Not at all, mister Frog assured him, They're as safe
• 1:21:10
  Speaker 1: as standing on your head, And thereupon he stood on
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: his own head to prove that what he said was true. Still,
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 1: the company was not moved to take mister Frog's advice
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: and try a mudbath. Most of them declared that nothing
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: could induce them to undertake such a risky act. But
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: a few daring ones said that if all the rest
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: would take mudbaths, and if they found that they liked them,
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 1: they themselves would be willing to test them too. However,
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: nobody took a single step towards the creek, so at
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: last the company scattered, leaving long Bill, Wren and mister
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 1: Frog alone upon the bank. Meanwhile, long Bill had been
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: thinking deeply. He had begun to wonder whether there might
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: not be some good in a mud bath, in spite
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 1: of his neighbour's doubts. And now he turned to Ferdinand
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: Frog and began speaking in a hushed voice. Don't tell
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 1: my wife I asked you this question, he said, But
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 1: I would like to know if mud baths are good
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: for rheumatism. Good for it? Mister Frog exclaimed why they're
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: a sure cure and the only one end of section
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: seven Section eight of the Tale of Ferdinand Frog by
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 1: Arthur Scott Bailey. This LibriVox recording is in the public
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 1: domain recording by Jude Summers, section eight, Holding his Breath
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 1: and Mister Frog Runs Away, Chapter twenty two, Learning to
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: hold his Breath. There on the bank of Black Creek,
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 1: mister Frog and long Bill Wren talked in whispers about
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: mud baths, and in a short time, Long Bill announced
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: that he had made up his mind to try one.
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: Good mister Frog cried as he patted his neighbor on
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: the back, and now let me give you a bit
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: of advice. Before you dive into the creek. You should
• 1:23:21
  Speaker 1: learn to hold your breath. You'd better go home and
• 1:23:25
  Speaker 1: begin practicing at once. So Long Bill Wren flew into
• 1:23:29
  Speaker 1: his house and stayed there the rest of that day.
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 1: But he soon found that all was not as simple
• 1:23:36
  Speaker 1: as he had hoped. Whenever he was trying to hold
• 1:23:39
  Speaker 1: his breath, his wife was sure to ask him a question,
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 1: and of course that led to trouble. If he didn't
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: answer her. She thought him rude and said so quite
• 1:23:49
  Speaker 1: frankly too, well if he did answer her, speaking spoiled
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 1: his practice. It was annoying, to say the least, and
• 1:23:59
  Speaker 1: by the next morning the poor fellow was almost frantic.
• 1:24:03
  Speaker 1: He sought out mister Frog and explained how hard it
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: was for him to learn to hold his breath. If
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 1: you could only think of some way of making my
• 1:24:12
  Speaker 1: wife hold hers too, Long Bill moaned. But mister Frog
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: said at once that nobody could do that, and there
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 1: was no use in trying. Why don't you, he asked,
• 1:24:25
  Speaker 1: go off by yourself in Cedar Swamp and practice there.
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 1: But Longbill said that he ought not to stay away
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: from home long enough to do that. Then there's only
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 1: one way left for you. Mister Frog decided, you must
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: practice at night when your wife's asleep. A good idea,
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 1: long Bill whispered, I'll try it this very night. Bright
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: and early the next morning, long Bill ran found mister
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: Frog a little way up the creek and told him
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: that his night's practice had been a great success. I
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: began holding my breath right after sunset, he said, and
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: it was so easy that I fell asleep and I
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 1: never breathed once all night long until I awoke at daybreak.
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: The news delighted mister Frog. Good, he cried, And now
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: there's one more thing you must do before you take
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 1: a mudbath. You must learn to breathe through your skin.
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 1: Just try right now, he urged his companion. So Longbill
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: tried to breathe through his skin while holding his breath
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: at the same time, and soon he began to sputter
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 1: and choke. Ah, I'm I'm afraid I can't do it,
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 1: he faltered. At last, mister Frog looked somewhat glum. For
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 1: a moment. He pondered in silence, and at length he
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 1: declared that, without doubt, there must be something wrong with
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 1: long Bill's skin. How long have you worn it? He inquired,
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: all my life? Longbill told him that's it. Mister Frog exclaimed,
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: it's worn out. You'll have to pull it off and
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 1: use a fresh one. Chapter thirteen, mister Frog runs away.
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: It may have been mister Frog's words that dismayed long
• 1:26:15
  Speaker 1: Bill ran, or it may have been his manner, or
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 1: perhaps both. Anyhow, long Bill looked frightened. Where can I
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 1: get a fresh skin if I pull off the one
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 1: I'm wearing? He wanted to know why there's another skin
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 1: just beneath your old one, mister Frog informed him glibly,
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: just pull hard and you'll see that I know what
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: I'm talking about. But Longbill was puzzled. I I don't
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 1: know where to begin, he stammered. Maybe you need help,
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 1: mister Frog suggested, and Longbill agreed that he did need help,
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 1: and a good deal of it too well. Mister Frog said,
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: with a giggle, I'll get old mister Turtle to assist me,
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: and between us, we'll have your old skin off before
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: you know it. He began to bellow mister Turtle's name
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: at the top of his lungs, and soon the old
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: gentleman's black head popped up out of the water, and
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 1: presently mister Turtle waddled up the bank of Black Creek
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: and listened to Ferdinand Frog's directions. You take hold of
• 1:27:25
  Speaker 1: long Bill's tail, mister Frog ordered him, while to the
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: frightened owner of the tail, he said cheerfully, anything mister
• 1:27:32
  Speaker 1: Turtle takes hold of just has to come. He never
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 1: lets go until it does. Now, long Bill ran had
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 1: suddenly made up his mind that he wouldn't take a
• 1:27:44
  Speaker 1: mudbath after all. He didn't like the prospect of having
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 1: his skin pulled off. Suppose mister Frog should be mistaken
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 1: about that second skin, which the tailor claimed lay beneath
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 1: the old one. Long Bill believed that with no skin
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: at all, he would find his rheumatism much worse than before,
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: and he would certainly be a queer looking object. So
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: as old mister Turtle crawled slowly towards him, he drew away.
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: I'm going to wait, Longbill announced, why, mister Frog demanded,
• 1:28:22
  Speaker 1: going to wait till the weather's warmer, Long Bill faltered.
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 1: Of course, mister Frog was disappointed by having his plans
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 1: so upset, and mister Turtle was disappointed too. My mouth
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: is open, he told mister Frog. I must grab something,
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: and it might as well be you. But mister Frog
• 1:28:45
  Speaker 1: jumped nimbly out of mister Turtle's reach, and a moment
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: later he thrust the free end of a tree root
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 1: between mister Turtle's jaws. They closed with a snap, and
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 1: mister Turtle began to pull. Come on, mister Frog, urged,
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: long Bill Wren. The tree may fall at any moment.
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 1: It's safer elsewhere, and without waiting to see what happened,
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 1: he leaped into black Creek and swam away. As for
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 1: long Bill, Wren. He hurried home. He knew his wife
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: would be wondering where he was, for he had been
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: away from the house in the reeds much longer than
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 1: his usual ten minutes. Arriving there, he was not surprised
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: that she asked him a few questions, and he explained
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: to her that he had been on the bank of
• 1:29:32
  Speaker 1: the creek watching old mister Turtle pulling at the root
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: of a willow. And I can tell you that I'm
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: well pleased that it wasn't my tail mister Turtle had
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: in his jaws, he said solemnly. Missus wren shuddered at
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: the mere mention of such an unlucky accident, and then
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 1: she said, I hope that dangerous mister Frog was not
• 1:29:55
  Speaker 1: with you. I believe he was there for a time.
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 1: Her husband replied, but he left before I did. I
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 1: wish you would keep away from him, she remarked, I'm
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 1: going to long Bill Wrenn promised, although mister Frog is
• 1:30:11
  Speaker 1: our newest neighbor, I shall have nothing more to do
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 1: with him. End of Section eight and of the Tale
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 1: of ferinand Frogg by Arthur Scott Bailey