"Chugarum!" said he, "I don't see anything to be afraid of, and I'm notgoing to hide until I do."
So he sat still right where he was, in the middle of the Lone LittlePath, looking this way and that way, and seeing nothing to be afraid of.And just then around a turn in the Lone Little Path came--who do youthink? Why Farmer Brown's boy! He saw Grandfather Frog and with a whoopof joy he sprang for him. Grandfather Frog gave a frightened croak andjumped, but he was too late. Before he could jump again Farmer Brown'sboy had him by his long hind-legs.
"Ha, ha!" shouted Farmer Brown's boy, "I believe this is the very oldchap I have tried so often to catch in the Smiling Pool. These legs ofyours will be mighty fine eating, Mr. Frog. They will, indeed."
With that he tied Grandfather Frog's legs together and went on his wayacross the Green Meadows with poor old Grandfather Frog dangling fromthe end of a string. It was a strange ride and a most uncomfortable one,and with all his might Grandfather Frog wished he had never thought ofgoing out into the Great World.
XV
GRANDFATHER FROG GIVES UP HOPE
With his legs tied together, hanging head down from the end of a string,Grandfather Frog was being carried he knew not where by Farmer Brown'sboy. It was dreadful. Half-way across the Green Meadows the Merry LittleBreezes of Old Mother West Wind came dancing along. At first they didn'tsee Grandfather Frog, but presently one of them, rushing up to teaseFarmer Brown's boy by blowing off his hat, caught sight of GrandfatherFrog.
Now the Merry Little Breezes are great friends of Grandfather Frog.Many, many times they have blown foolish green flies over to him as hesat on his big green lily-pad, and they are very fond of him. So whenthis one caught sight of him in such a dreadful position, he forgot allabout teasing Farmer Brown's boy. He raced away to tell the other MerryLittle Breezes. For a minute they were perfectly still. They forgot allabout being merry.
"It's awful, just perfectly awful!" cried one.
"We must do something to help Grandfather Frog!" cried another.
"Of course we must," said a third.
"But what can we do?" asked a fourth.
Nobody replied. They just thought and thought and thought. Finally thefirst one spoke. "We might try to comfort him a little," said he.
"Of course we will do that!" they shouted all together.
"And if we throw dust in the face of Farmer Brown's boy and steal hishat, perhaps he will put Grandfather Frog down," continued the MerryLittle Breeze.
"The very thing!" the others cried, dancing about with excitement.
"Then we can rush about and tell all Grandfather Frog's friends what hashappened to him and where he is. Perhaps some of them can help us," theLittle Breeze continued.
They wasted no more time talking, but raced after Farmer Brown's boy asfast as they could go. One of them, who was faster than the others, ranahead and whispered in Grandfather Frog's ear that they were coming tohelp him. But poor old Grandfather Frog couldn't be comforted. Hecouldn't see what there was that the Merry Little Breezes could do. Hislegs smarted where the string cut into the skin, and his head ached,for you know he was hanging head down. No, Sir, Grandfather Frogcouldn't be comforted. He was in a terrible fix, and he couldn't see anyway out of it. He hadn't the least bit of hope left. And all the timeFarmer Brown's boy was trudging along, whistling merrily. You see, itdidn't occur to him to think how Grandfather Frog must be suffering andhow terribly frightened he must be. He wasn't cruel. No, indeed, FarmerBrown's boy wasn't cruel. That is, he didn't mean to be cruel. He wasjust thoughtless, like a great many other boys, and girls too.
So he went whistling on his way until he reached the Long Lane leadingfrom the Green Meadows up to Farmer Brown's dooryard. No sooner was hein the Long Lane than something happened. A great cloud of dust andleaves and tiny sticks was dashed in his face and nearly choked him.Dirt got in his eyes. His hat was snatched from his head and wentsailing over into the garden. He dropped Grandfather Frog and felt forhis handkerchief to wipe the dirt from his eyes.
"Phew!" exclaimed Farmer Brown's boy, as he started after his hat. "It'sfunny where that wind came from so suddenly!"
But you know and I know that it was the Merry Little Breezes workingtogether who made up that sudden wind. And Grandfather Frog ought tohave known it too, but he didn't. You see the dust had got in his noseand eyes just as it had in those of Farmer Brown's boy, and he was sofrightened and confused that he couldn't think. So he lay just whereFarmer Brown's boy dropped him, and he didn't have any more hope thanbefore.
XVI
THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES WORK HARD
The Merry Little Breezes almost shouted aloud with delight when they sawFarmer Brown's boy drop Grandfather Frog to feel for his handkerchiefand wipe out the dust which they had thrown in his eyes. Then he had toclimb the fence and chase his hat through the garden. They would let himalmost get his hands on it and then, just as he thought that he surelyhad it, they would snatch it away. It was great fun for the Merry LittleBreezes. But they were not doing it for fun. No, indeed, they were notdoing it for fun! They were doing it to lead Farmer Brown's boy awayfrom Grandfather Frog.
Just as soon as they dared, they dropped the hat and then separated andrushed away in all directions across the Green Meadows, over to theGreen Forest, and down to the Smiling Pool. What were they going for?Why, to hunt for some of Grandfather Frog's friends and ask their help.You see, the Merry Little Breezes could make Farmer Brown's boy dropGrandfather Frog, but they couldn't untie a knot or cut a string, andthis is just what had got to be done to set Grandfather Frog free, forhis hind-legs were tied together. So now they were looking for some onewith sharp teeth, who thought enough of Grandfather Frog to come andhelp him.
One thought of Striped Chipmunk and started for the old stone wall tolook for him. Another went in search of Danny Meadow Mouse. A thirdheaded for the dear Old Briar-patch after Peter Rabbit. A fourthremembered Jimmy Skunk and how he had once set Blacky the Crow free froma snare. A fifth remembered what sharp teeth Happy Jack Squirrel has andhurried over to the Green Forest to look for him. A sixth startedstraight for the Smiling Pool to tell Jerry Muskrat. And every one ofthem raced as fast as he could.
All this time Grandfather Frog was without hope. Yes, Sir, poor oldGrandfather Frog was wholly in despair. You see, he didn't know what theMerry Little Breezes were trying to do, and he was so frightened andconfused that he couldn't think. When Farmer Brown's boy dropped him, helay right where he fell for a few minutes. Then, right close at hand, hesaw an old board. Without really thinking, he tried to get to it, forthere looked as if there might be room for him to hide under it. It washard work, for you know his long hind-legs, which he uses for jumping,were tied together. The best he could do was to crawl and wriggle andpull himself along. Just as Farmer Brown's boy started to climb thefence back into the Long Lane, his hat in his hand, Grandfather Frogreached the old board and crawled under it.
Now when the Merry Little Breezes had thrown the dust in Farmer Brown'sboy's face and snatched his hat, he had dropped Grandfather Frog in sucha hurry that he didn't notice just where he did drop him, so now hedidn't know the exact place to look for him. But he knew pretty near,and he hadn't the least doubt but that he would find him. He had juststarted to look when the dinner horn sounded. Farmer Brown's boyhesitated. He was hungry. If he was late, he might lose his dinner. Hecould come back later to look for Grandfather Frog, for with his legstied Grandfather Frog couldn't get far. So, with a last look to makesure of the place, Farmer Brown's boy started for the house.
If the Merry Little Breezes had known this, they would have felt ever somuch better. But they didn't. So they hurried as fast as ever they couldto find Grandfather Frog's friends and worked until they were almost tootired to move, for it seemed as if every single one of GrandfatherFrog's friends had taken that particular day to go away from home. Sowhile Farmer Brown's boy ate his dinner, and Grandfather Frog lay hidingunder the old board in the Long Lane, the Merry Little Breezes did their
best to find help for him.
XVII
STRIPED CHIPMUNK CUTS THE STRING
"Hippy hop! Flippy flop! All on a summer day My mother turned me from the house and sent me out to play!"
Striped Chipmunk knew perfectly well that that was just nonsense, butStriped Chipmunk learned a long time ago that when you are just bubblingright over with good feeling, there is fun in saying and doing foolishthings, and that is just how he was feeling. So he ran along the oldrail fence on one side of the Long Lane, saying foolish things andcutting up foolish capers just because he felt so good, and all the timeseeing all that those bright little eyes of his could take in.
Now Striped Chipmunk and the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother WestWind are great friends, very great friends, indeed. Almost every morningthey have a grand frolic together. But this morning the Merry LittleBreezes hadn't come over to the old stone wall where Striped Chipmunkmakes his home. Anyway, they hadn't come at the usual time. StripedChipmunk had waited a little while and then, because he was feeling sogood, he had decided to take a run down the Long Lane to see if anythingnew had happened there. That is how it happened that when one of theMerry Little Breezes did go to look for him, and was terribly anxious toask him to come to the help of Grandfather Frog, he was nowhere to befound.
But Striped Chipmunk didn't know anything about that. He scamperedalong the top rails of the old fence, jumped up on top of a post, andsat up to wash his face and hands, for Striped Chipmunk is very neat andcannot bear to be the least bit dirty. He looked up and winked at Ol'Mistah Buzzard, sailing round and round way, way up in the blue, bluesky. He chased his own tail round and round until he nearly fell off ofthe post. He made a wry face in the direction of Redtail the Hawk, whomhe could see sitting in the top of a tall tree way over on the GreenMeadows. He scolded Bowser the Hound, who happened to come trotting upthe Long Lane, and didn't stop scolding until Bowser was out of sight.Then he kicked up his heels and whisked along the old fence again.
Half-way across a shaky old rail, he suddenly stopped. His bright eyeshad seen something that filled him with curiosity, quite as muchcuriosity as Peter Rabbit would have had. It was a piece of string. Yes,Sir, it was a piece of string. Now Striped Chipmunk often had foundpieces of string, so there was nothing particularly interesting in thestring itself. What did interest him and make him very curious was thefact that this piece of string kept moving. Every few seconds it gave alittle jerk. Whoever heard of a piece of string moving all by itself?Certainly Striped Chipmunk never had. He couldn't understand it.
For a few minutes he watched it from the top rail of the old fence. Thenhe scurried down to the ground and, a few steps at a time, stopping towatch sharply between each little run, he drew nearer and nearer to thatqueer acting string. It gave him a funny feeling inside to see a stringacting like that, so he was very careful not to get too near. He lookedat it from one side, then ran around and looked at it from the otherside. At last he got where he could see that one end of the string wasunder an old board, and then he began to understand. Of course there wassomebody hiding under that old board and jerking the string.
He seized the other end of the string and began to pull._Page 88._]
Striped Chipmunk sat down and scratched his head thoughtfully. Whoeverwas pulling that string couldn't be very big, or they would never havebeen able to crawl under that old board, therefore he needn't be afraid.A gleam of mischief twinkled in Striped Chipmunk's eyes. He seized theother end of the string and began to pull. Such a jerking and yanking asbegan right away! But he held on and pulled harder. Then out from underthe old board appeared the queer webbed feet of Grandfather Frog tiedtogether. Striped Chipmunk was so surprised that he let go of the stringand nearly fell over backward.
"Why, Grandfather Frog, what under the sun are you doing here?" heshouted.
When Striped Chipmunk let go of the string, Grandfather Frog promptlydrew his feet back under the old board, but when he heard StripedChipmunk's voice, he slowly and painfully crawled out. He told how hehad been caught and tied by Farmer Brown's boy and finally dropped nearthe old board. He told how terribly frightened he was, and how sore hislegs were. Striped Chipmunk didn't wait for him to finish. In a flash hewas at work with his sharp teeth and had cut the cruel string beforeGrandfather Frog had finished his story.
XVIII
GRANDFATHER FROG HURRIES AWAY
When Striped Chipmunk cut the string that bound the long legs ofGrandfather Frog together, Grandfather Frog was so relieved that hehardly knew what to do. Of course he thanked Striped Chipmunk over andover again. Striped Chipmunk said that it was nothing, just nothing atall, and that he was very glad indeed to help Grandfather Frog.
"We folks who live out in the Great World have to help one another,"said Striped Chipmunk, "because we never know when we may need helpourselves. Now you take my advice, Grandfather Frog, and go back to theSmiling Pool as fast as you can. The Great World is no place for an oldfellow like you, because you don't know how to take care of yourself."
Now when he said that, Striped Chipmunk made a great mistake. Old peoplenever like to be told that they are old or that they do not know allthere is to know. Grandfather Frog straightened up and tried to lookvery dignified.
"Chugarum!" said he, "I'd have you to know, Striped Chipmunk, thatpeople were coming to me for advice before you were born. It was just anaccident that Farmer Brown's boy caught me, and I'd like to see him doit again. Yes, Sir, I'd like to see him do it again!"
Dear me, dear me! Grandfather Frog was boasting. If he had been safe athome in the Smiling Pool, there might have been some excuse forboasting, but way over here in the Long Lane, not even knowing the wayback to the Smiling Pool, it was foolish, very foolish indeed. No oneknew that better than Striped Chipmunk, but he has a great deal ofrespect for Grandfather Frog, and he knew too that Grandfather Frog wasfeeling very much out of sorts and very much mortified to think that hehad been caught in such a scrape, so he put a hand over his mouth tohide a smile as he said:
"Of course he isn't going to catch you again. I know how wise and smartyou are, but you look to me very tired, and there are so many dangersout here in the Great World that it seems to me that the very best thingyou can do is to go back to the Smiling Pool."
But Grandfather Frog is stubborn, you know. He had started out to seethe Great World, and he didn't want the little people of the GreenMeadows and the Green Forest to think that he was afraid. The truth is,Grandfather Frog was more afraid of being laughed at than he was of thedangers around him, which shows just how foolish wise people can besometimes. So he shook his head.
"Chugarum!" said he, "I am going to see the Great World first, and thenI am going back to the Smiling Pool. Do you happen to know where thereis any water? I am very thirsty."
Now over on the other side of the Long Lane was a spring where FarmerBrown's boy filled his jug with clear cold water to take with him to thecornfield when he had to work there. Striped Chipmunk knew all aboutthat spring, for he had been there for a drink many times. So he toldGrandfather Frog just where the spring was and how to get to it. He evenoffered to show the way, but Grandfather Frog said that he would rathergo alone.
"Watch out, Grandfather Frog, and don't fall in, because you might notbe able to get out again," warned Striped Chipmunk.
Grandfather Frog looked up sharply to see if Striped Chipmunk was makingfun of him. The very idea of any one thinking that he, who had lived inthe water all his life, couldn't get out when he pleased! But StripedChipmunk looked really in earnest, so Grandfather Frog swallowed thequick retort on the tip of his tongue, thanked Striped Chipmunk, andhurried away to look for the spring, for he was very, very thirsty.Besides, he was very, very hot, and he hurried still faster as hethought of the cool bath he would have when he found that spring.
XIX
GRANDFATHER FROG JUMPS INTO MORE TROUBLE
Some people are heedless and run into trouble. Some people are stupidand walk into trouble. Grandfather
Frog was both heedless and stupid andjumped into trouble. When Striped Chipmunk told him where the springwas, it seemed to him that he couldn't wait to reach it. You see,Grandfather Frog had spent all his life in the Smiling Pool, where hecould get a drink whenever he wanted it by just reaching over the edgeof his big green lily-pad. Whenever he was too warm, all he had to dowas to say "Chugarum!" and dive head first into the cool water. So hewasn't used to going a long time without water.
Jump, jump, jump! Grandfather Frog was going as fast as ever he couldin the direction Striped Chipmunk had pointed out. Every three or fourjumps he would stop for just a wee, wee bit of rest, then off he wouldgo again, jump, jump, jump! And each jump was a long one. Peter Rabbitcertainly would have been envious if he could have seen those long jumpsof Grandfather Frog.
At last the ground began to grow damp. The farther he went, the damperit grew. Presently it became fairly wet, and there was a great deal ofsoft, cool, wet moss. How good it did feel to Grandfather Frog's poortired feet!
"Must be I'm most there," said Grandfather Frog to himself, as hescrambled up on a big mossy hummock, so as to look around. Right away hesaw a little path from the direction of the Long Lane. It led straightpast the very hummock on which Grandfather Frog was sitting, and henoticed that where the ground was very soft and wet, old boards had beenlaid down. That puzzled Grandfather Frog a great deal.
"It's a sure enough path," said he. "But what under the blue, blue skydoes any one want to spoil it for by putting those boards there?"
The Adventures of Grandfather Frog Page 4