The Adventures of Grandfather Frog | Page 6

anything in the world so hard on the temper as to lose a
good meal when you are very, very, very hungry? Of course Longlegs
didn't really have that good meal, but he had thought that he was surely
going to have it. So when Grandfather Frog splashed into the Smiling
Pool, of course Longlegs lost his temper altogether. His yellow eyes
seemed to grow even more yellow.
"You robber! You thief!" he screamed harshly at old Whitetail.
Now old Whitetail was just as hungry as Longlegs, and he had come
even nearer to catching Grandfather Frog. He is even quicker tempered
than Longlegs. He had whirled like a flash on Jerry Muskrat, but Jerry
had just laughed in the most provoking manner and ducked under water.
This had made old Whitetail angrier than ever, and then to be called
bad names--robber and thief! It was more than any self-respecting
Hawk could stand. Yes, Sir, it certainly was! He fairly shook with rage
as he turned in the air once more and made straight for Longlegs the
Blue Heron.
"I'm no more robber and thief than you are!" he shrieked.
"You frightened away my Frog!" screamed Longlegs.
"I didn't!"
"You did!"
"I didn't! It wasn't your Frog; it was mine!"

"Chugarum!" said Grandfather Frog to Jerry Muskrat, as they peeped
out from under some lily-pads. "I didn't know I belonged to anybody. I
really didn't. Did you?"
"No," replied Jerry, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he watched
Longlegs and Whitetail, "it's news to me."
"You're too lazy to hunt like honest people!" taunted old Whitetail, as
he wheeled around Longlegs, watching for a chance to strike with his
great, cruel claws.
"I'm too honest to take the food out of other people's mouths!" retorted
Longlegs, dancing around so as always to face Whitetail, one of his
great, broad wings held in front of him like a shield, and his long,
strong bill ready to strike.
Every feather on Whitetail's head was standing erect with rage, and he
looked very fierce and terrible. At last he saw a chance, or thought he
did, and shot down. But all he got was a feather from that great wing
which Longlegs kept in front of him, and before he could get away, that
long bill had struck him twice, so that he screamed with pain. So they
fought and fought, till the ground was covered with feathers, and they
were too tired to fight any longer. Then, slowly and painfully, old
Whitetail flew away over the Green Meadows, and with torn and
ragged wings, Longlegs flew heavily down the Laughing Brook
towards the Big River, and both were sore and stiff and still hungry.
"Dear me! Dear me! What a terrible thing and how useless anger is,"
said Grandfather Frog, as he climbed back on his big green lily-pad in
the warm sunshine.

VII
GRANDFATHER FROG'S BIG MOUTH GETS HIM IN TROUBLE
Grandfather Frog has a great big mouth. You know that. Everybody
does. His friends of the Smiling Pool, the Laughing Brook, and the

Green Meadows have teased Grandfather Frog a great deal about the
size of his mouth, but he hasn't minded in the least, not the very least.
You see, he learned a long time ago that a big mouth is very handy for
catching foolish green flies, especially when two happen to come along
together. So he is rather proud of his big mouth, just as he is of his
goggly eyes.
But once in a while his big mouth gets him into trouble. It's a way big
mouths have. It holds so much that it makes him greedy sometimes. He
stuffs it full after his stomach already has all that it can hold, and then
of course he can't swallow. Then Grandfather Frog looks very foolish
and silly and undignified, and everybody calls him a greedy fellow who
is old enough to know better and who ought to be ashamed of himself.
Perhaps he is, but he never says so, and he is almost sure to do the same
thing over again the first chance he has.
Now it happened that one morning when Grandfather Frog had had a
very good breakfast of foolish green flies and really didn't need another
single thing to eat, who should come along but Little Joe Otter, who
had been down to the Big River fishing. He had eaten all he could hold,
and he was taking the rest of his catch to a secret hiding-place up the
Laughing Brook.
Now Grandfather Frog is very fond of fish for a change, and when he
saw those that Little Joe Otter had, his eyes glistened, and in spite of
his full stomach his mouth watered.
"Good morning, Grandfather Frog! Have you had your