Book: The Adventures of Grandfather Frog
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Thornton W. Burgess >> The Adventures of Grandfather Frog
Now Danny Meadow Mouse is fond of Grandfather Frog, and he couldn't bear
to think that something dreadful might happen to him. So when he found
that he couldn't get Grandfather Frog to go back to the Smiling Pool, he
made up his mind that he just _had_ to go along with Grandfather Frog to
try to keep him out of danger. Yes, Sir, he just _had_ to do it. He felt
re-spon-sible for Grandfather Frog's safety. So here they were, Danny
Meadow Mouse running ahead, anxious and worried and watching sharply for
signs of danger, and Grandfather Frog puffing along behind, bound to see
the Great World which his cousin, old Mr. Toad, said was a better place
to live in than the Smiling Pool.
Now Danny has a great many private little paths under the grass all over
the Green Meadows, and along these he can scamper ever so fast without
once showing himself to those who may be looking for him. Of course he
started to take Grandfather Frog along one of these little paths. But
Grandfather Frog doesn't walk or run; he jumps. There wasn't room in
Danny's little paths for jumping, as they soon found out. Grandfather
Frog simply couldn't follow Danny along those little paths. Danny sat
down to think, and puckered his brows anxiously. He was more worried
than ever. It was very clear that Grandfather Frog would have to travel
out in the open, where there was room for him to jump, and where also he
would be right out in plain sight of all who happened along. Once more
Danny urged him to go back to the Smiling Pool, but he might just as
well have talked to a stick or a stone. Grandfather Frog had started out
to see the Great World, and he was going to see it.
Danny sighed. "If you will, you will, I suppose," said he, "and I guess
the only place you can travel in any comfort is the Lone Little Path.
It is dangerous, very dangerous, but I guess you will have to do it."
"Chugarum!" replied Grandfather Frog, "I'm not afraid. You show me the
Lone Little Path and then go about your business, Danny Meadow Mouse."
So Danny led the way to the Lone Little Path, and Grandfather Frog
sighed with relief, for here he could jump without getting all tangled
up in long grass and without hurting his tender feet on sharp stubble
where the grass had been cut. But Danny felt more worried than ever. He
wouldn't leave Grandfather Frog because, you know, he felt re-spon-sible
for him, and at the same time he was terribly afraid, for he felt sure
that some of their enemies would see them. He wanted to go back, but he
kept right on, and that shows just what a brave little fellow Danny
Meadow Mouse was.
XIV
GRANDFATHER FROG HAS A STRANGE RIDE
A thousand things may happen to,
Ten thousand things befall,
The traveler who careless is,
Or thinks he knows it all.
Grandfather Frog, jumping along behind Danny Meadow Mouse up the Lone
Little Path, was beginning to think that Danny was the most timid and
easiest frightened of all the little meadow people of his acquaintance.
Danny kept as much under the grass that overhung the Lone Little Path as
he could. When there were perfectly bare places, Danny looked this way
and looked that way anxiously and then scampered across as fast as he
could make his little legs go. When he was safely across, he would wait
for Grandfather Frog. If a shadow passed over the grass, Danny would
duck under the nearest leaf and hold his breath.
"Foolish!" muttered Grandfather Frog. "Foolish, foolish to be so afraid!
Now, I'm not afraid until I see something to be afraid of. Time enough
then. What's the good of looking for trouble all the time? Now, here I
am out in the Great World, and I'm not afraid. And here's Danny Meadow
Mouse, who has lived here all his life, acting as if he expected
something dreadful to happen any minute. Pooh! How very, very foolish!"
Now Grandfather Frog is old and in the Smiling Pool he is accounted
very, very wise. But the wisest sometimes become foolish when they think
that they know all there is to know. It was so with Grandfather Frog.
It was he who was foolish and not Danny Meadow Mouse. You see Danny knew
all the dangers on the Green Meadows, and how many sharp eyes were all
the time watching for him. He had long ago learned that the only way to
feel safe was to feel afraid. You see, then he was watching for danger
every minute, and so he wasn't likely to be surprised by his hungry
enemies.
So while Grandfather Frog was looking down on Danny for being so timid,
Danny was really doing the wisest thing. More than that, he was really
very, very brave. He was showing Grandfather Frog the way up the Lone
Little Path to see the Great World, when he himself would never, never
have thought of traveling anywhere but along his own secret little
paths, just because Grandfather Frog couldn't jump anywhere excepting
where the way was fairly clear, as in the Lone Little Path, and Danny
was afraid that unless Grandfather Frog had some one with him to watch
out for him, he would surely come to a sad end.
The farther they went with nothing happening, the more foolish Danny's
timid way of running and hiding seemed to Grandfather Frog, and he was
just about to tell Danny just what he thought, when Danny dived into the
long grass and warned Grandfather Frog to do the same. But Grandfather
Frog didn't.
"Chugarum!" said he, "I don't see anything to be afraid of, and I'm not
going to hide until I do."
So he sat still right where he was, in the middle of the Lone Little
Path, 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 you
think? Why Farmer Brown's boy! He saw Grandfather Frog and with a whoop
of joy he sprang for him. Grandfather Frog gave a frightened croak and
jumped, but he was too late. Before he could jump again Farmer Brown's
boy had him by his long hind-legs.
"Ha, ha!" shouted Farmer Brown's boy, "I believe this is the very old
chap I have tried so often to catch in the Smiling Pool. These legs of
yours will be mighty fine eating, Mr. Frog. They will, indeed."
With that he tied Grandfather Frog's legs together and went on his way
across the Green Meadows with poor old Grandfather Frog dangling from
the 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 of
going 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's
boy. It was dreadful. Half-way across the Green Meadows the Merry Little
Breezes of Old Mother West Wind came dancing along. At first they didn't
see Grandfather Frog, but presently one of them, rushing up to tease
Farmer Brown's boy by blowing off his hat, caught sight of Grandfather
Frog.
Now the Merry Little Breezes are great friends of Grandfather Frog.
Many, many times they have blown foolish green flies over to him as he
sat on his big green lily-pad, and they are very fond of him. So when
this one caught sight of him in such a dreadful position, he forgot all
about teasing Farmer Brown's boy. He raced away to tell the other Merry
Little Breezes. For a minute they were perfectly still. They forgot all
about 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 the
first 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 his
hat, perhaps he will put Grandfather Frog down," continued the Merry
Little Breeze.
"The very thing!" the others cried, dancing about with excitement.
"Then we can rush about and tell all Grandfather Frog's friends what has
happened to him and where he is. Perhaps some of them can help us," the
Little Breeze continued.
They wasted no more time talking, but raced after Farmer Brown's boy as
fast as they could go. One of them, who was faster than the others, ran
ahead and whispered in Grandfather Frog's ear that they were coming to
help him. But poor old Grandfather Frog couldn't be comforted. He
couldn't see what there was that the Merry Little Breezes could do. His
legs smarted where the string cut into the skin, and his head ached,
for you know he was hanging head down. No, Sir, Grandfather Frog
couldn't be comforted. He was in a terrible fix, and he couldn't see any
way out of it. He hadn't the least bit of hope left. And all the time
Farmer Brown's boy was trudging along, whistling merrily. You see, it
didn't occur to him to think how Grandfather Frog must be suffering and
how terribly frightened he must be. He wasn't cruel. No, indeed, Farmer
Brown's boy wasn't cruel. That is, he didn't mean to be cruel. He was
just thoughtless, like a great many other boys, and girls too.
So he went whistling on his way until he reached the Long Lane leading
from the Green Meadows up to Farmer Brown's dooryard. No sooner was he
in the Long Lane than something happened. A great cloud of dust and
leaves 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 went
sailing over into the garden. He dropped Grandfather Frog and felt for
his handkerchief to wipe the dirt from his eyes.
"Phew!" exclaimed Farmer Brown's boy, as he started after his hat. "It's
funny where that wind came from so suddenly!"
But you know and I know that it was the Merry Little Breezes working
together who made up that sudden wind. And Grandfather Frog ought to
have known it too, but he didn't. You see the dust had got in his nose
and eyes just as it had in those of Farmer Brown's boy, and he was so
frightened and confused that he couldn't think. So he lay just where
Farmer Brown's boy dropped him, and he didn't have any more hope than
before.
XVI
THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES WORK HARD
The Merry Little Breezes almost shouted aloud with delight when they saw
Farmer Brown's boy drop Grandfather Frog to feel for his handkerchief
and wipe out the dust which they had thrown in his eyes. Then he had to
climb the fence and chase his hat through the garden. They would let him
almost get his hands on it and then, just as he thought that he surely
had it, they would snatch it away. It was great fun for the Merry Little
Breezes. But they were not doing it for fun. No, indeed, they were not
doing it for fun! They were doing it to lead Farmer Brown's boy away
from Grandfather Frog.
Just as soon as they dared, they dropped the hat and then separated and
rushed away in all directions across the Green Meadows, over to the
Green 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 drop
Grandfather Frog, but they couldn't untie a knot or cut a string, and
this is just what had got to be done to set Grandfather Frog free, for
his hind-legs were tied together. So now they were looking for some one
with sharp teeth, who thought enough of Grandfather Frog to come and
help him.
One thought of Striped Chipmunk and started for the old stone wall to
look for him. Another went in search of Danny Meadow Mouse. A third
headed for the dear Old Briar-patch after Peter Rabbit. A fourth
remembered Jimmy Skunk and how he had once set Blacky the Crow free from
a snare. A fifth remembered what sharp teeth Happy Jack Squirrel has and
hurried over to the Green Forest to look for him. A sixth started
straight for the Smiling Pool to tell Jerry Muskrat. And every one of
them raced as fast as he could.
All this time Grandfather Frog was without hope. Yes, Sir, poor old
Grandfather Frog was wholly in despair. You see, he didn't know what the
Merry Little Breezes were trying to do, and he was so frightened and
confused that he couldn't think. When Farmer Brown's boy dropped him, he
lay right where he fell for a few minutes. Then, right close at hand, he
saw an old board. Without really thinking, he tried to get to it, for
there looked as if there might be room for him to hide under it. It was
hard 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 and
pull himself along. Just as Farmer Brown's boy started to climb the
fence back into the Long Lane, his hat in his hand, Grandfather Frog
reached the old board and crawled under it.
Now when the Merry Little Breezes had thrown the dust in Farmer Brown's
boy's face and snatched his hat, he had dropped Grandfather Frog in such
a hurry that he didn't notice just where he did drop him, so now he
didn'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 just
started to look when the dinner horn sounded. Farmer Brown's boy
hesitated. He was hungry. If he was late, he might lose his dinner. He
could come back later to look for Grandfather Frog, for with his legs
tied Grandfather Frog couldn't get far. So, with a last look to make
sure of the place, Farmer Brown's boy started for the house.
If the Merry Little Breezes had known this, they would have felt ever so
much better. But they didn't. So they hurried as fast as ever they could
to find Grandfather Frog's friends and worked until they were almost too
tired to move, for it seemed as if every single one of Grandfather
Frog's friends had taken that particular day to go away from home. So
while Farmer Brown's boy ate his dinner, and Grandfather Frog lay hiding
under 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, but
Striped Chipmunk learned a long time ago that when you are just bubbling
right over with good feeling, there is fun in saying and doing foolish
things, and that is just how he was feeling. So he ran along the old
rail fence on one side of the Long Lane, saying foolish things and
cutting up foolish capers just because he felt so good, and all the time
seeing all that those bright little eyes of his could take in.
Now Striped Chipmunk and the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West
Wind are great friends, very great friends, indeed. Almost every morning
they have a grand frolic together. But this morning the Merry Little
Breezes hadn't come over to the old stone wall where Striped Chipmunk
makes his home. Anyway, they hadn't come at the usual time. Striped
Chipmunk had waited a little while and then, because he was feeling so
good, he had decided to take a run down the Long Lane to see if anything
new had happened there. That is how it happened that when one of the
Merry Little Breezes did go to look for him, and was terribly anxious to
ask him to come to the help of Grandfather Frog, he was nowhere to be
found.
But Striped Chipmunk didn't know anything about that. He scampered
along the top rails of the old fence, jumped up on top of a post, and
sat up to wash his face and hands, for Striped Chipmunk is very neat and
cannot 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, blue
sky. He chased his own tail round and round until he nearly fell off of
the post. He made a wry face in the direction of Redtail the Hawk, whom
he could see sitting in the top of a tall tree way over on the Green
Meadows. He scolded Bowser the Hound, who happened to come trotting up
the 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 eyes
had seen something that filled him with curiosity, quite as much
curiosity 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 found
pieces of string, so there was nothing particularly interesting in the
string itself. What did interest him and make him very curious was the
fact that this piece of string kept moving. Every few seconds it gave a
little 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. Then
he scurried down to the ground and, a few steps at a time, stopping to
watch sharply between each little run, he drew nearer and nearer to that
queer acting string. It gave him a funny feeling inside to see a string
acting like that, so he was very careful not to get too near. He looked
at it from one side, then ran around and looked at it from the other
side. At last he got where he could see that one end of the string was
under an old board, and then he began to understand. Of course there was
somebody hiding under that old board and jerking the string.
[Illustration: He seized the other end of the string and began to pull.
_Page 88._]
Striped Chipmunk sat down and scratched his head thoughtfully. Whoever
was pulling that string couldn't be very big, or they would never have
been 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 the
other end of the string and began to pull. Such a jerking and yanking as
began right away! But he held on and pulled harder. Then out from under
the old board appeared the queer webbed feet of Grandfather Frog tied
together. Striped Chipmunk was so surprised that he let go of the string
and nearly fell over backward.
"Why, Grandfather Frog, what under the sun are you doing here?" he
shouted.
When Striped Chipmunk let go of the string, Grandfather Frog promptly
drew his feet back under the old board, but when he heard Striped
Chipmunk's voice, he slowly and painfully crawled out. He told how he
had been caught and tied by Farmer Brown's boy and finally dropped near
the old board. He told how terribly frightened he was, and how sore his
legs were. Striped Chipmunk didn't wait for him to finish. In a flash he
was at work with his sharp teeth and had cut the cruel string before
Grandfather Frog had finished his story.
XVIII
GRANDFATHER FROG HURRIES AWAY
When Striped Chipmunk cut the string that bound the long legs of
Grandfather Frog together, Grandfather Frog was so relieved that he
hardly knew what to do. Of course he thanked Striped Chipmunk over and
over again. Striped Chipmunk said that it was nothing, just nothing at
all, 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 help
ourselves. Now you take my advice, Grandfather Frog, and go back to the
Smiling Pool as fast as you can. The Great World is no place for an old
fellow 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 people
never like to be told that they are old or that they do not know all
there is to know. Grandfather Frog straightened up and tried to look
very dignified.
"Chugarum!" said he, "I'd have you to know, Striped Chipmunk, that
people were coming to me for advice before you were born. It was just an
accident that Farmer Brown's boy caught me, and I'd like to see him do
it 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 at
home in the Smiling Pool, there might have been some excuse for
boasting, but way over here in the Long Lane, not even knowing the way
back to the Smiling Pool, it was foolish, very foolish indeed. No one
knew that better than Striped Chipmunk, but he has a great deal of
respect for Grandfather Frog, and he knew too that Grandfather Frog was
feeling very much out of sorts and very much mortified to think that he
had been caught in such a scrape, so he put a hand over his mouth to
hide a smile as he said:
"Of course he isn't going to catch you again. I know how wise and smart
you are, but you look to me very tired, and there are so many dangers
out here in the Great World that it seems to me that the very best thing
you can do is to go back to the Smiling Pool."
But Grandfather Frog is stubborn, you know. He had started out to see
the Great World, and he didn't want the little people of the Green
Meadows 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 the
dangers around him, which shows just how foolish wise people can be
sometimes. So he shook his head.
"Chugarum!" said he, "I am going to see the Great World first, and then
I am going back to the Smiling Pool. Do you happen to know where there
is any water? I am very thirsty."
Now over on the other side of the Long Lane was a spring where Farmer
Brown's boy filled his jug with clear cold water to take with him to the
cornfield when he had to work there. Striped Chipmunk knew all about
that spring, for he had been there for a drink many times. So he told
Grandfather Frog just where the spring was and how to get to it. He even
offered to show the way, but Grandfather Frog said that he would rather
go alone.
"Watch out, Grandfather Frog, and don't fall in, because you might not
be able to get out again," warned Striped Chipmunk.
Grandfather Frog looked up sharply to see if Striped Chipmunk was making
fun of him. The very idea of any one thinking that he, who had lived in
the water all his life, couldn't get out when he pleased! But Striped
Chipmunk looked really in earnest, so Grandfather Frog swallowed the
quick retort on the tip of his tongue, thanked Striped Chipmunk, and
hurried away to look for the spring, for he was very, very thirsty.
Besides, he was very, very hot, and he hurried still faster as he
thought 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 stupid
and walk into trouble. Grandfather Frog was both heedless and stupid and
jumped into trouble. When Striped Chipmunk told him where the spring
was, 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 he
could get a drink whenever he wanted it by just reaching over the edge
of his big green lily-pad. Whenever he was too warm, all he had to do
was to say "Chugarum!" and dive head first into the cool water. So he
wasn't used to going a long time without water.
Jump, jump, jump! Grandfather Frog was going as fast as ever he could
in the direction Striped Chipmunk had pointed out. Every three or four
jumps he would stop for just a wee, wee bit of rest, then off he would
go again, jump, jump, jump! And each jump was a long one. Peter Rabbit
certainly would have been envious if he could have seen those long jumps
of Grandfather Frog.
At last the ground began to grow damp. The farther he went, the damper
it grew. Presently it became fairly wet, and there was a great deal of
soft, cool, wet moss. How good it did feel to Grandfather Frog's poor
tired feet!
"Must be I'm most there," said Grandfather Frog to himself, as he
scrambled up on a big mossy hummock, so as to look around. Right away he
saw a little path from the direction of the Long Lane. It led straight
past the very hummock on which Grandfather Frog was sitting, and he
noticed that where the ground was very soft and wet, old boards had been
laid down. That puzzled Grandfather Frog a great deal.
"It's a sure enough path," said he. "But what under the blue, blue sky
does any one want to spoil it for by putting those boards there?"
You see, Grandfather Frog likes the soft wet mud, and he couldn't
understand how any one, even Farmer Brown's boy, could prefer a hard dry
path. Of course he never had worn shoes himself, so he couldn't
understand why any one should want dry feet when they could just as well
have wet ones. He was still puzzling over it when he heard a sound that
made him nearly lose his balance and tumble off the hummock. It was a
whistle, the whistle of Farmer Brown's boy! Grandfather Frog knew it
right away, because he often had heard it over by the Smiling Pool. The
whistle came from over in the Long Lane. Farmer Brown's boy had had his
dinner and was on his way back to look for Grandfather Frog where he had
been dropped.
Grandfather Frog actually grinned as he thought how surprised Farmer
Brown's boy was going to be when he could find no trace of him. Suddenly
the smile seemed to freeze on Grandfather Frog's face. That whistle was
coming nearer! Farmer Brown's boy had left the Long Lane and was coming
along the little path. The truth is, he was coming for a drink at the
spring, but Grandfather Frog didn't think of this. He was sure that in
some way Farmer Brown's boy had found out which way he had gone and was
coming after him. He crouched down as flat as he could on the big
hummock and held his breath. Farmer Brown's boy went straight past.
Just a few steps beyond, he stopped and knelt down. Peeping through the
grass, Grandfather Frog saw him dip up beautiful clear water in an old
cup and drink. Then Grandfather Frog knew just where the spring was.