MR. FROG had given Bobby Bobolink a great surprise. He had said that Bobby was wearing his clothes upside down.
After making that unpleasant remark Mr. Frog burst into a gale of laughter. And it was some time before he could say anything more.
While he held his sides and laughed, Bobby Bobolink tried to look at his own reflection in a pool of water. But so far as he could see there was nothing unusual about his suit. He was puzzled; but there was no use asking Mr. Frog any questions just then Bobby knew that he would have to wait until the silly tailor"s fit of laughing had pa.s.sed.
At last Mr. Frog grew calmer. He drew forth a big handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped his eyes.
"You"re certainly the funniest sight I"ve ever seen!" he exclaimed.
"I wish you"d explain about my suit being upside down," Bobby said.
"I"ve worn it this way for almost two months. And only yesterday my wife told me there was nothing wrong with it."
"Ah!" Mr. Frog cried. "She doesn"t know about the styles. If she did, she"d know what was the matter. Your waistcoat is black; and you wear bright colors on your back. Anybody that follows the fashions as I do could tell you that your coat should be black, and that the yellow and white ought to be on your waistcoat. That"s one of the rules: Coat dark, waistcoat bright and gay! Look at me!" And Mr. Frog drew himself up proudly and leaned against a stump, with his feet crossed, exactly as if he was having his picture taken.
Bobby Bobolink looked at him. And all at once he burst out laughing.
Now it was Mr. Frog"s turn to feel uncomfortable.
"What"s the matter?" he asked. "Isn"t my tie straight?"
"Oh, I dare say your tie"s correct," Bobby Bobolink told him. "But there"s something queer about you. Maybe it"s because your feet are so big!" And he laughed harder than ever; for Mr. Frog certainly looked funny.
Now, Mr. Frog"s feet were a great trial to him. He had always wanted small ones. But somehow he had never been able to change them.
"They aren"t really as big as they look," he remarked, gazing down at his feet mournfully. "You see, trousers are being worn very tight this summer. And that always makes the feet seem bigger.... My feet can"t look peculiar."
"Then," said Bobby Bobolink, "it must be something else that amuses me.
It must be your mouth!"
"My mouth!" Mr. Frog repeated, as his jaw dropped. "What"s the matter with that?"
"It"s so big!" Bobby cried.
Now, Mr. Frog had always been terribly sensitive about the size of his mouth.
"I"ll tell you something about my mouth," he said. "Once it was smaller than yours. But I"ve smiled so much it has stretched a bit, though I hoped n.o.body had noticed that."
"Well," Bobby Bobolink told him, "I"m better off than you are, Mr. Frog.
For I expect to have a new suit this fall. But how are you going to change your mouth--or your feet, either?"
That was a question that Mr. Frog couldn"t answer. He made no attempt to reply, but plunged into the water and swam away.
And he never again laughed at anybody"s clothes all that summer.
XVIII
TIMOTHY TURTLE"S COMPLAINT
IT happened that the Bobolink family moved to Cedar Swamp just when Timothy Turtle had arrived there for a short outing. It was Mr. Turtle"s custom to leave his home in Black Creek now and than and spend a few days in some other neighborhood. He said that after living in the creek as many years as he had it did him good to get a change once in a while.
About every forty years he paid a visit to the Beaver Pond on the other side of Blue Mountain. But he visited Cedar Swamp oftener than that, because it was nearer his home.
There was scarcely anybody that was glad to see Mr. Turtle. He was a snappish, surly old chap. And he was forever finding fault with everybody and everything. It seemed as if you couldn"t please him, no matter how much you tried. He had spent less than a week in Cedar Swamp before every one voted him a nuisance. And he had invitations, daily, to go back where he came from.
But Timothy Turtle announced in no uncertain tones that he wouldn"t go till he was ready. He said that it was a waste of breath to urge him to leave, and that those that didn"t care for his company might move. He promised that he wouldn"t stop anybody--unless he happened to get hold of him!
Naturally every one took pains to keep out of Timothy Turtle"s reach. It was well known that when his powerful jaws closed upon a person"s leg, for instance, its unlucky owner might as well not try to get away till Timothy was ready to let him go. And if it happened to be his head that Timothy Turtle seized--well, then he was unluckier still!
If Timothy Turtle was grumpy before Bobby Bobolink moved to Cedar Swamp, it would be hard to say what he was afterward. For Bobby Bobolink"s happy songs drove Timothy Turtle almost crazy. He said that if he had known he would have to listen to such merry singing he would have taken his outing in the Beaver Pond, though he wasn"t really due there for thirty-nine years, because he had visited the Beaver colony only the summer before.
When Timothy heard Bobby Bobolink"s song ringing through the swamp he hurried as fast as he could toward the place where it seemed to come from. Timothy did that, not because he wanted to hear the singing better, but because he had something to say to the singer. He wanted to tell him to keep still. And he had a good many disagreeable remarks on the tip of his tongue, all ready to fling at Bobby Bobolink.
But somehow Mr. Turtle never succeeded in finding Bobby. After Mr.
Turtle had swum in one direction he was sure to hear the song in another. Sometimes he would even leave the water and crawl over the soggy, boggy turf; and that was slow work for Timothy Turtle. You may be sure it did not improve his temper to find that his journeying had been all in vain.
It happened that at last somebody told Bobby Bobolink that Mr. Turtle wanted to speak to him. And being most obliging, Bobby set out to find Timothy. "It"s a shame," he said, "to disappoint an old gentleman."
Anybody could tell, from that remark, that he didn"t know Timothy Turtle.
XIX
BOBBY"S MISTAKE
AFTER a good deal of searching Bobby Bobolink discovered Timothy Turtle in a pool in Cedar Swamp, sunning himself on an old stump that was half under water.
"Good morning, Mr. Turtle!" Bobby cried. "Is it true that you have something to say to me?"
And feeling quite happy and care-free, Bobby began to sing one of his most sprightly songs. For Mr. Turtle was a slow old fellow. It took him some time to answer a question, especially when he was dozing.
But the moment Bobby Bobolink began to sing old Mr. Timothy Turtle came to life instantly. And he was so angry at hearing that rollicking song that much as he wanted to, he couldn"t speak. Somehow the words seemed to stick in his throat.
And for a few moments Timothy was afraid he was going to choke.
Now Bobby Bobolink was such a lively person that he couldn"t keep still long. Especially when he was singing he liked to be on the move. So when he saw that Timothy Turtle wasn"t going to speak immediately Bobby leaped from the bush where he was perched and began flying joyously over the swamp.
All the time he sang with all his might, making so much music that he could not hear Timothy Turtle calling to him at last.
Once in a while Bobby wheeled above Mr. Turtle, so that the old fellow might enjoy his best notes. He little knew that Mr. Turtle was crying to him to stop, for goodness" sake! And noticing that Timothy"s mouth was moving, Bobby Bobolink said to himself:
"He looks terribly fierce; but of course he"s only commanding me not to stop singing."