THE BOYS AND THE FROGS

"Let us go to the pond and have some fun," said George.

"What fun can we have there?" asked Frank. "The pond is nothing but an old mudhole. We can not swim in such water."

Down at the pond the sun shone warm, and an old mother frog and her children were sunning themselves on a log. Now and then one plunged into the water with a chug! and then crawled out on the bank.

That was a happy time in frog land.

In the midst of their play, they heard a sound which made the mother frog tremble. It was only a boy's laugh, but as soon as the mother heard it she said, "Into the water, every one of you. The giants are coming;" and they all jumped into the water.

The giants had armed themselves with pebbles. Each one had a pocketful. As soon as they caught sight of the frogs, they cried, "Now for some fun!"

Before the mother frog could reach the water, a stone hit her on one of her feet. The one-sided battle had begun.

Every time a little frog peeped out of the water to get a breath of air or to look at the two giants, whiz! flew a pebble right toward it, and it never cared to look at its enemies again.

The mother became very angry. She lifted her head boldly above the water.

"Cowards!" she cried. "If we could sting, would you fight us? If we could bite, would you be here? You have great sport tormenting us, because we cannot fight for ourselves. You are cowards! cowards!"

And all the little frogs echoed, "Cowards! cowards!"