"Oh, Bully and Bawly," she said, as she turned around from the blackboard, where she was drawing a picture of a house, so the children could better learn how to spell it, "I am sorry to hear you whispering. You will both have to stay in after school."

Well, of course Bully and Bawly didn't like that, but when you do wrong you have to suffer for it, and when the other animal boys and girls ran out after school, to play marbles and baseball, and skip rope, and jump hop-scotch and other games, the frog boys had to stay in.

They sat in the quiet schoolroom, and the robin teacher did some writing in her books. And Bawly looked out of the window over at the baseball game. And Bully looked out of the window over toward the swimming pond. And the teacher looked out of the window at the cool woods, where those queer flowered Jack-in-the-pulpits grew, and she too, wished she was out there instead of in the schoolroom.

"Well, if you two boys are sorry you whispered, and promise that you won't do it again, you may go," said the teacher after a while, when she had looked out of the window once more. "You know it isn't really wicked to whisper in school, only it makes you forget to study, and sometimes it makes other children forget to study, and that's where the wrong part comes in."

"I'm sorry, teacher," said Bully.

"You may go," said the young robin lady with a smile. "How about you, Bawly?"

"I'm not!" he exclaimed, real cross-like, "and I'll whisper again," for all the while Bawly had been thinking how mean the teacher was to keep him in when he wanted to go out and play ball.

The robin lady teacher looked very much surprised at the frog boy, but she only said, "Very well, Bawly. Then you can't go."

So Bully hurried out, and Bawly and the teacher stayed there.

Bawly kept feeling worse and worse, and he began to wish that he had said he was sorry. He looked at the teacher, and he saw that she was gazing out of the window again, toward the woods, where there were little white flowers, like stars, growing by the cool, green ferns. And Bawly noticed how tired the teacher looked, and as he watched he was sure he saw a tear in each of her bright eyes. And finally she turned to him and said:

"It is so nice out of doors, Bawly, that I can't keep you here any longer, no matter whether you are sorry or not. But I hope you'll be sorry to-morrow, and won't whisper again. For it helps me when boys and girls don't whisper. Run out now, and have a good time. I wish I could go, but I have some work to do," and then with her wing she patted Bawly on his little green head, and opened the door for him.

Bawly felt rather queer as he hopped out, and he didn't feel like playing ball, after all. Instead he hopped off to the woods, and sat down under a big Jack-in-the-pulpit to think. And he thought of how his teacher couldn't live in the nice green country as he did, for she had to stay in a boarding-house in the city, to be near her school, and she couldn't see the flowers growing in the woods as often as could Bawly, for she nearly always had to stay in after school to write in the report-books.

"I—I wish I hadn't whispered," Bawly said to himself. "I—I'm going to help teacher after this. I'll tell her I'm sorry, and—and I guess I'll bring her some flowers for her desk."

Every one wondered what made Bawly so quiet that evening at home. He studied his lessons, and he didn't want to go out and play ball with Bully.

"I hope he isn't going to be sick," said his mamma, anxious-like.

"Oh! I guess maybe he's got a touch of water-lily fever," said Grandpa Croaker. "A few days of swimming will make him all right again."

Bawly got up very early the next morning, and without telling any one where he was going he hopped over to the woods, and gathered a lot of flowers.

Oh, such a quantity as he picked! There were purple violets, and yellow ones, and white ones, and some wild, purple asters, and some blue fringed gentian, and some lovely light-purple wild geraniums, and several Jacks-in-the-pulpit, and many other kinds of flowers. And he made them into a nice bouquet with some ferns on the outside.

Then, just as he was hopping to school, what should happen but that a great big alligator jumped out of the bushes at him.

"Ha! What are you doing in my woods," asked the alligator, crossly.

"If—if you please, I'm getting some flowers for my teacher, because I whispered," said Bawly.

"Oh, in that case it's all right," said the alligator, smacking his jaws. "I like school teachers. Give her my regards," and would you believe it? the savage creature crawled off, taking his double-jointed tail with him, and didn't hurt Bawly a bit. The flowers made the alligator feel kind and happy.

Well, Bawly got to school all right, before any of the other children did, and he put the flowers on teacher's desk, and he wrote a little note, saying:

"Dear teacher, I'm sorry I whispered, but I'm going to help you to-day, and not talk."

And Bawly didn't. It was quite hard in school that day, but at last it was over. And, just when the children were going home, the robin lady teacher said:

"Boys and girls, you have all helped me very much to-day by being good, and I thank you. And something else helped me. It was these flowers that Bawly brought me, for they remind me of the woods where I used to play when I was a little girl," and then she smelled of the flowers, and Bawly saw something like two drops of water fall from the teacher's eyes right into one of the Jacks-in-the-pulpit. I wonder if it was water?

And then school was over and all the children ran out to play and Bawly thought he never had had so much fun in all his life as when he and Bully and some of the others had a ball game, and Bawly knocked a fine home run.

Now, in case the cuckoo clock doesn't fall down off the wall and spatter the rice pudding all over the parlor carpet, I'll tell you in the story after this one about Bully and Sammie Littletail.



STORY XXVIII

BULLY AND SAMMIE LITTLETAIL

One day when the nice young lady robin school teacher, about whom I told you last night, called the roll of her class, to see if all the animal children were there, Samuel Littletail, the rabbit boy, didn't answer.

"Why, I wonder where Sammie can be?" asked the teacher. "Has anyone seen him this morning?"

They all shook their heads, and Bully No-Tail, the frog boy, answered:

"If you please, teacher, perhaps his sister, Susie, knows."

"Oh, of course! Why didn't I think to ask her?" said the teacher. So she looked over on the girls' side of the room, but, would you believe it? Susie, the rabbit girl, wasn't there either.

"That is very odd," said the teacher, "both Sammie and Susie out! I hope they haven't the epizootic, or the mumps, or carrot fever, or anything like that. Well, we'll go on with our lessons, and perhaps they will come in later."

So the first thing the pupils did was to sing a little song, and though I can't make up very nice ones, I'll do the best I can to give you an idea of it. This is how it went, to the tune, "Tum-Tum-Tum, Tiddle De-um!"

Good morning! How are you? We hope you're quite well. We're feeling most jolly, So hark to us spell.

C-A and a T, with A dot on the eye. Makes cat, dog or rat, Or a bird in the sky.

Take two and two more. What have you? 'Tis five! What? Four? Oh, of course, See the B in the hive.

Now sing the last verse, Ah, isn't it pretty? We're glad that you like Our dear little kittie.

Well, after the children had sung that they all looked around to see if Sammie or Susie had come in, but they hadn't, and then the lessons began, and everyone got a perfect mark. Still the rabbit children didn't come, and after school Bully No-Tail said:

"I think I'll stop at Sammie's house and see what is the matter."

"I wish you would," spoke the teacher, "and then you can tell us to-morrow. I hope he is not ill."

But Sammie was worse than ill, as Bully very soon found out when he got to the house. He found Mr. and Mrs. Littletail very much excited. Mrs. Littletail was crying, and so was Susie, and as for Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, she was washing up the dishes so fast that she broke a cup and saucer and dropped a knife and spoon. And Uncle Wiggily Longears was limping around on his crutch, striped red, white and blue like a barber pole, and saying: "Oh dear! Oh dear me! Oh hum suz dud."

"Why, whatever has happened?" asked Bully. "Is Sammie dead?"

"Worse than that," said Susie, wiping her eyes on her apron.

"Much worse," chimed in Uncle Wiggily. "Just think, Bully, when Sammie was starting off for school this morning, he went off in the woods a little way to see if he could find a wild carrot, when a big boy rushed up, grabbed him, and put him in a bag before any of us could save him! And now he's gone! Completely gone!"

"So that's why he didn't come to school to-day," said Nurse Jane sadly.

"And I didn't feel like coming either," spoke Susie, crying some more. "I tried to find Sammie, but I couldn't. Oh dear! Boo hoo!"

"We all tried to find him," said Mr. Littletail sadly.

"But we can't," added Mrs. Littletail still more sadly. "Our Sammie is gone! The bad boy has him!"

"Oh, that is awful!" cried Bully. "But I'll see if I can't find him for you."

So Bully hopped off through the woods, hoping he could find where the boy lived who had taken Sammie away with him.

"And if I find him I'll help Sammie to get away," thought Bully. So he went on and on, but for a long time he couldn't find Sammie. For, listen, the boy who had caught the little rabbit had taken Sammie home, and had made a cage for him.

"I'm going to keep you forever," said the boy, looking in through the wire cage at Sammie. "I've always wanted a rabbit and now I have one." Well, poor Sammie asked the boy to let him go, but the boy didn't understand rabbit language, and maybe he wouldn't have let the bunny go, anyhow.

Well, it was getting dark, and Sammie was very much frightened in his cage, and he was wondering whether any of his friends would find him, and help him escape.

"I'll call out loud, so they'll know where to look for me," he said, and he grunted as loudly as he could and whistled through his twinkling nose.

Well, it happened that just then Bully was hopping up a little hill, and he heard Sammie calling.

"That's Sammie!" exclaimed Bully. "Now, if I can only rescue him!"

So the frog boy hopped on farther, and pretty soon he came to the yard of the house where the boy lived. And Bully peeped in through a knothole in the fence, and he saw Sammie in the cage.

"I'm here, Sammie!" cried Bully through the hole. "Don't be afraid, I'll get you out of there."

"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Sammie, clapping his paws.

But, after he had said it, Bully saw that it wasn't going to be very easy to get Sammie out, for the cage was very strong. The boy was in the house cutting up some cabbage for the rabbit, and the little frog knew he would have to work very quickly if he was to rescue Sammie.

So Bully hunted until he found a place where he could crawl under the fence, and he went close up to the cage, and what did he do but hop inside, thinking he could unlock the door for Sammie. For Bully was little enough to hop through between the holes in the wire, but Sammie was too big to get out that way.

But Bully couldn't open the door because the lock was too strong, and the frog boy couldn't break the wire.

"Oh, if Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy were only here!" he exclaimed, "she could get us out of this trap very soon. But she isn't."

"Let's both together try to break it," proposed Sammie, but they couldn't do it. I don't know what they would have done, and perhaps Sammie would have had to stay there forever, but at that moment along came the old alligator. He looked through the knothole in the fence, and he saw Sammie and Bully in the cage.

"Ah, here is where I get a good dinner!" thought the alligator, so with one savage and swooping sweep of his big, scaly tail, he smashed down the fence and broke the cage all to pieces, but he didn't hurt Bully or Sammie, very luckily, for they were in a far corner.

"Now's our chance!" cried the frog. "Run, Sammie, run!" And they both scudded away as fast as they could before the alligator could catch them, or even before the boy could run out to see what the noise was. And when the alligator saw the boy the savage creature flurried and scurried away, taking his scalery-ailery tail with him, and the boy was very much surprised when he saw that the rabbit was gone.

But Sammie and Bully got safely home, and the next day Sammie went to school as usual, just as if nothing had happened, and every one said Bully was very brave to help him.

So that's all for to-night, if you please, and in case the housecleaning man gets all the ice cream up from under the sitting-room matting, and makes a snowball of it for the poll parrot to play horse with, I'll tell you next about Bully and Bawly going to the circus.



STORY XXIX

BULLY AND BAWLY AT THE CIRCUS

"Oh, mamma, may we go?" exclaimed Bawly No-Tail one day as he came home from school, and hopped into the house with such a big hop, that he hopped right up into the frog lady's lap.

"Go where?" asked Bawly's mother, wondering if the alligator were after her son.

"Oh, do please let us go!" cried Bully, hopping in after his brother. Bully tried to stand on his head, but his foot slipped and he nearly fell into the ink bottle. "Please let us go, mother?"

"Where? Where?" she asked again, as Bawly hopped out of her lap.

"To the circus!" cried Bully.

"It's coming!" exclaimed Bawly.

"Down in the vacant lots," went on Bully.

"Oh, you ought to see the posters! Lions and tigers and elephants, and men jumping in the air, and horses and—and—"

Bawly had to stop for breath then, and so he couldn't say any more. Neither could Bully. Oh, but they were excited, let me tell you.

"May we go?" they both cried out again.

"Well, I'll see," began their mother slowly. "I don't know—"

"Oh, I guess you'd better let them go," spoke up Grandpa Croaker in his deepest, rumbling voice. "I—I think I can spare the time to look after them. I don't really want to go, you know, as I was going to play a game of checkers with Uncle Wiggily Longears, but I guess I can take the boys to the circus. Ahem!"

"Oh, goody!" cried Bawly, jumping up and down.

"Where are you going?" asked their papa, just then coming in from the wallpaper factory.

"To the circus," said Bawly. "Grandpa Croaker will take us."

"Ha! Hum!" exclaimed Papa No-Tail. "I am very busy, but I guess I can spare the time to take you. We won't bother Grandpa."

"Oh, it's no bother—none at all, I assure you," quickly spoke the grandpa frog, in a thundering, rumbling voice. "We can both take them."

"Well, I never heard of such a thing!" exclaimed Mamma No-Tail. "Any one would think you two old men frogs wanted to go as much as the boys do. But I guess it will be all right."

So Bully and Bawly and their papa and their grandpa went to the circus next day. And what do you think? Just as they were buying their tickets if they didn't meet Uncle Wiggily Longears! And he had Sammie and Susie, the rabbits, with him, and there was Aunt Lettie, the old lady goat, with the three Wibblewobble children, and many other little friends of Bully and Bawly.

Well, that was a fine circus! There were lots of tents with flags on, and outside were men selling pink lemonade and peanuts for the elephant, and toy balloons, only those weren't for the elephant, you know, and there were men shouting, and lots of excitement, and there was a side show, with pictures outside the tent of a man swallowing swords by the dozen, and also knives and forks, and another picture of a lady wrapping a fat snake around her neck, because she was cold, I guess, and then you could hear the lions roaring and the elephants trumpeting, and the band was playing, and the peanut wagons were whistling like teakettles, and—and—Oh! why, if I write any more about that circus I'll want to take my typewriter, and put it away in a dark closet, and go to the show myself!

But anyhow it was very fine, and pretty soon Bully and Bawly and their papa and grandpa were in the tent looking at the animals. They fed the elephant peanuts until they had none for themselves, and they looked at the camel with two humps, and at the one with only one hump, because I s'pose he didn't have money enough to buy two, and then they went in the tent where the real show was.

Well it went off very fine. The big parade was over, and the men were doing acts on the trapeze, and the trained seals were playing ball with their noses, and the clowns were cutting up funny capers. And all at once a man, with a shiny hat on, came out in the middle of the ring, and said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to call your attention to our jumping dog, Nero. He is the greatest jumping dog in the world, and he will jump over an elephant's back!"

Well, the people clapped like anything after that, and a clown came out, leading a dog. Everybody was all excited, especially when another clown led out a big elephant. Then it was the turn of the dog to jump over the elephant. Well, he tried it, but he didn't go over. The clown petted him, and gave him a sweet cracker, and the dog tried it again, but he couldn't do it. Then he tried once more and he fell right down under the elephant, and the elephant lifted Nero up in his trunk, and set him gently down on some straw.

Then the clown took off his funny, pointed hat and said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry, but my poor dog is sick and he can't jump to-day, and I have nothing else that can jump over the elephant's back."

Every one felt quite disappointed at that, but still they were sorry for the poor dog. The clown led him away, and the other clown was leading the elephant off, when Bully said to Bawly:

"Don't you think we could do that jump? We once did a big jump to get away from the alligator, you know."

"Let's try it," said Bawly. "Then the people won't be disappointed. Come on." So they slipped from their seats, when their papa and grandpa were talking to Uncle Wiggily about the trained seals, and those two frog boys just hopped right into the middle of the circus ring. At first a monkey policeman was going to put them out, but they made motions that they wanted to jump over the elephant, for they couldn't speak policeman talk, you know.

"Ah ha! I see what they want," said the kind clown. "Well, I don't believe they can do it, but let them try. It may amuse the people." So he made the elephant go back to his place, and every one became interested in what Bully and Bawly were going to do.

"Are you already?" asked Bully of his brother.

"Yes," answered Bawly.

"Then take a long breath, and jump as hard as you can," said Bully. So they both took long breaths, crouched down on their hind legs, and then both together, simultaneously and most extraordinarily, they jumped. My, what a jump it was! Bigger than the time when they got away from the alligator. Right over the elephant's back they jumped, and they landed on a pile of soft straw so they weren't hurt a bit. My! You should have heard the people cheer and clap!

"Good!" cried the clown. "That was a great jump! Will you stay in the circus with me? I will pay you as much as I pay my dog."

"Oh, no! They must go home," said their papa, as Bully and Bawly went back to their seats. "That is, after the circus is over," said Mr. No-Tail.

So the frog boys saw the rest of the show, and afterward all their friends told them how brave it was to do what they had done.

And for a long time after that whenever any one mentioned what good jumpers Bully and Bawly were, Sammie Littletail would say:

"Ah, but you should have seen them in the circus one day."

And on the next page, if the lilac bush in our back yard doesn't reach in through the window, and take off my typewriter ribbon to wear to Sunday school, I'll tell you about Bully and Bawly playing Indian.



STORY XXX

BULLY AND BAWLY PLAY INDIAN

It happened, once upon a time, after the circus had gone away from the place where Bully and Bawly No-Tail, the frogs, lived that a Wild West show came along.

And my goodness! There were cowboys and cowgirls, and buffaloes and steers and men with lassos, and Mexicans and Cossacks, and Indians! Real Indians, mind you, that used to be wild, and scalp people, which was very impolite to do, but they didn't know any better; the Indians didn't I mean. Then they got tame and didn't scalp people any more. Yes, sir, they were real Indians, and they had real feathers on them!

Of course the feathers didn't belong to the Indians, the same as a chicken's feathers, or a turkey's feathers belong to them. That is, the feathers didn't grow on the Indians, even if they did seem to. No, the Indians put them on for ornaments, just as ladies put plumes on their hats with long hatpins.

Well, of course, Bully and Bawly and the other boys all went to the Wild West show, and when they got home about all they did for several days was to play cowboys or Indians. Indians mostly, for they liked them the best. And the boys gave regular warwhoop cries.

"We'll have a new game," said Bully to Bawly one day. "We'll dress up like the Indians did, and we'll go off in the woods, and we'll see if we can capture white people."

"Real?" asked Bawly.

"No, only make-believe ones. And we'll build a camp fire, and take our lunch, and sleep in the woods."

"After dark?" asked Bawly.

"Sure. Why not? Don't Indians sleep in the woods after dark?"

"Oh, but they have real guns and knives to kill the bears with," objected Bawly, "and our guns and knives will only be wooden."

"Well, maybe it will be better to only pretend it's night in the woods," agreed Bully. "We can go in a dark place under the trees, and make believe it's night, and that will do just as well."

So they agreed to do that way, and for the next few days the frog boys were busy making themselves up to look like Indians. Their mother let them take some old blankets, and they got some red and green chalk to put on their faces for war paint, and they found a lot of feathers over at the homes of Charlie and Arabella Chick, and the three Wibblewobble duck children. These feathers they put around their heads, and down their backs, as the Indians in the Wild West show did.

"Now I guess we're ready to start off and hunt make-believe white people," said Bawly one Saturday morning when there wasn't any school.

"Have you the lunch? We mustn't forget that," spoke Bully.

"Yes, I have it," his brother replied. "Take your bow and arrow, and I'll carry the wooden gun."

Off they started as brave as an elephant when he has a bag of peanuts in his trunk. They hurried to the woods, so none of their friends would see them, for Bully and Bawly wanted to have it all a surprise. And pretty soon they were under the trees where it was quite dark. Bawly gave a big hop, and landed up front beside his brother.

"You mustn't walk here," said Bully. "Indians always go in single file, one behind the other. Get behind me."

"I—I'm afraid," said Bawly.

"Of what?" asked his brother. "Indians are never afraid."

"I—I'm afraid I might scare somebody," said Bawly. "I—I look so fierce you know. I just saw myself reflected back there in a pond of water that was like a looking-glass and I'm enough to scare anybody."

"So much the better," said his brother. "You can scare the make-believe white people whom we are going to capture and scalp. Get in behind me."

"Wouldn't it be just as well if I pretended to walk behind you, and still stayed up front here, beside you?" asked Bawly, looking behind him.

"Oh, I guess so," answered his brother. So the two frog boys, who looked just like Indians, went on side by side though the woods. They looked all around them for something to capture, but all that they saw was an old lady hoptoad, going home from market.

"Shall we capture her?" asked Bawly, getting his bow and arrow ready.

"No," replied his brother. "She might tell mamma, and, anyhow, we wouldn't want to hurt any of mamma's friends. We'll capture some of the fellows." But Bully and Bawly couldn't seem to find any one, not even a make-believe white person, and they were just going to sit down and eat their lunch, anyhow, when they heard some one shouting:

"Help! Help! Oh, some one please help me!" called a voice.

"Some one's in trouble!" cried Bully. "Let's help them!"

So he and his brother bravely hurried on through the woods, and soon they came to a place where they could hear the voice more plainly. Then they looked between the bushes, and what should they see but poor Arabella Chick, and a big hand-organ monkey had hold of her, and the monkey was slowly pulling all the feathers from Arabella's tail.

"Oh, don't, please!" begged the little chicken girl. "Leave my feathers alone."

"No, I shan't!" answered the monkey. "I want the feathers to make a feather duster, to dust off my master's hand-organ," and with that he yanked out another handful.

"Oh, will no one help me?" cried poor Arabella, trying to get away. "I'll lose all my feathers!"

"We must help her," said Bawly to Bully.

"We surely must," agreed Bully. "Get all ready, and we'll shoot our arrows at that monkey, and then we'll go out with our make-believe guns, and shoot bang-bang-pretend-bullets at him, and then we'll holler like the wild Indians, and the monkey will be so frightened that he'll run away."

Well, they did that. Zip-whizz! went two make-believe arrows at the monkey. One hit him on the nose, and one on the leg, and the pain was real, not make-believe. Then out from the bushes jumped Bully and Bawly, firing their make-believe guns as fast as they could.

Then they yelled like real Indians and when the monkey saw the red and green and yellow and purple and pink and red feathers on the frog Indians and saw their colored-chalk faces he was so frightened that he wiggled his tail, blinked his eyes, clattered his teeth together, and, dropping Arabella Chick, off he scrambled up a tree after a make-believe cocoanut.

"Now, you're safe!" cried Bully to the chicken girl.

"Yes," said Bawly, "being Indians was some good after all, even if we didn't capture any make-believe white people to scalp."

So they sat down under the trees, and Arabella very kindly helped them to eat the lunch, and she said she thought Indians were just fine, and as brave as soldiers.

So now we've reached the end of this story, and as you're sleepy you'd better go to bed, and in case the piano key doesn't open the front door, and go out to play hop-scotch on the sidewalk, I'll tell you next about the Frogs' farewell hop.



STORY XXXI

THE FROGS' FAREWELL HOP

One night Papa No-Tail, the frog gentleman, came home from his work in the wallpaper factory with a bundle of something under his left front leg.

"What have you there, papa?" asked Bawly, as he scratched his nose on a rough stone; "is it ice cream cones for us?"

"No," said Mr. No-Tail, "it is not anything like that; but, anyhow, the weather is almost warm enough for ice cream."

"Is it some new kind of wallpaper that you hopped on to-day after you dipped your feet in red and green ink?" asked Bully.

"No," replied his papa. "I have here some wire to tack over the windows, to keep out the flies and mosquitoes, for it is getting to be summer now, and those insects will soon be flying and buzzing around."

So after supper Mr. No-Tail, and his two boys, Bully and Bawly, tacked the wire mosquito netting on the windows, and when they were all done Mr. No-Tail went down to the corner drug store and he bought a quart of ice cream, the kind all striped like a sofa cushion, and he and his wife and Bully and Bawly sat out on the porch eating it with spoons out of a dish, just as real as anything.

"Oh dear me! There's a mosquito buzzing around!" suddenly exclaimed Mamma No-Tail, as she ate the last of her cream. "They are on hand early this year. I'm going in the house."

"I'll go get my bean shooter, and see if I can kill that mosquito!" exclaimed Bawly, who once went hunting after the buzzers, and shot quite a number. But land sakes! it was so dark on the porch that he couldn't see the buzzing mosquitoes though he blew a number of beans about, and one hit Uncle Wiggily Longears on the nose, just as the old gentleman rabbit was hopping over to play checkers with Grandpa Croaker. But Uncle Wiggily forgave Bawly, as it was an accident, and as there was a little ice cream left, the old gentleman rabbit and Grandpa Croaker ate it up.

Well, something happened that night when they had all gone to bed. Along about 12 o'clock, when it was all still and quiet, and when the little mice were just coming out to play hide and seek and look for some crackers and cheese, Bawly No-Tail felt some one pulling him out of bed.

"Here! Hold on! Don't do that, Bully!" he cried.

"What's the matter?" asked his brother. "Are you dreaming or talking in your sleep? I'm not doing anything."

"Aren't you pulling me out of bed?" asked Bawly, and he had to grab hold of the bedpost to prevent himself falling to the floor.

"Why, no, I'm in my own bed," answered Bully. "Oh, dear me! Oh, suz dud! Some one's pulling me, too!" And he let out such a yell that Mamma No-Tail came running in with a light. And what do you think she saw?

Why two, great, big buzzing mosquitoes flew out of the window through a hole in the wire netting, and it was those mosquitoes who had been trying to pull Bully and Bawly out of bed, so they could fly away with them to eat them up.

"Oh, my! How bold those mosquitoes are this year!" exclaimed the mamma frog. "They actually bit a hole in the wire screen."

"They did, eh?" cried Papa No-Tail. "Well, I'll fix that!" So he got a hammer and some more wire, and he mended the hole which the mosquitoes had made. Then Bully and Bawly went to sleep again. They were afraid the mosquitoes would come in once more, but though the savage insects buzzed around outside for quite a while, the screen was too strong for them this time, and they didn't get in the house.

"If this keeps on," said Papa No-Tail, as he hopped off to work next morning, "we'll have to go to a place where there are no mosquitoes."

Well, that night the same thing happened. Along about 1 o'clock Bully felt some one pulling him out of bed, and he cried, and his mamma came with a light, and there was another mosquito, twice as big as before, with a long sharp bill, and long, dingly-dangly legs, and buzzy-uzzy wings, just skeddadling out of the window.

"There! They've bitten another hole in the screen!" cried Mrs. No-Tail. "Oh, this is getting terrible!"

"I'll put double screens on to-morrow," said Papa No-Tail, and he did. But would you believe it? Those mosquitoes still came. The big ones couldn't make their way through the two nets, but lots of the little ones came in. One would manage to get his head through the wire, and then all his friends would push and pull on him until he was inside, then another would wiggle in, and that's how they did it. Then they went and hid down cellar, until they grew big enough to bite.

And, though these mosquitoes couldn't pull Bully and Bawly out of bed, for the pestiferous insects weren't strong enough, they nipped the frog boys all over, until their legs and arms and faces and noses and ears smarted and burned terribly, and their mamma had to put witch hazel and talcum powder on the bites.

"I can see that we'll soon have to get away from here," said Papa No-Tail, one morning, when the mosquitoes had been very bad and troublesome in the night. "They come right through the screens," he said. "Now we'll hop off to the mountains or seashore, where there are no mosquitoes."

"Don't you s'pose Bully and I could sit up some night and kill them with our bean shooters?" said Bawly.

"You may try," said his papa. So the two frog boys tried it that night. They sat up real late, and they shot at several mosquitoes that came in, and they hit some. And then Bully and Bawly fell asleep, and the first thing you know the mosquitoes buzzing outside heard them snoring, and they bit a big hole right through the double screen this time, and were just pulling Bully and Bawly out of bed, when the frog boys' mamma heard them crying, and came with the lamp, scaring the savage insects away.

"There is no use talking!" said Papa No-Tail. "We will hop off in the morning. We'll say good-by to this place."

So the next morning the frogs packed up, and they sent word to all their friends that they were going to take their farewell hop to the mountains, where there were no more mosquitoes.

Oh such a crowd as gathered to see them hop away! There was Sammie and Susie Littletail, and Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, and Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, and Munchie and Dottie Trot, and Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, and Uncle Wiggily Longears and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy and Buddy Pigg and all the other animal friends.

Away hopped Papa No-Tail, and away hopped Mamma No-Tail, and then Grandpa Croaker and Bully and Bawly hopped after them, calling good-bys to all their friends. Every one waved his handkerchief and Susie Littletail and Jennie Chipmunk cried a little bit, for they liked Bully and Bawly very much, and didn't like to see them hop away.

And what do you think? Some of the mosquitoes were so mean that they flew out of the woods and tried to bite the frogs as they were hopping away. But Bully and Bawly had their bean shooters and they shot a number of the creatures, so the rest soon flew off and hid in a hollow tree.

"I'm coming to see you some time!" called Uncle Wiggily Longears to Bully and Bawly. "Be good boys!"

"Yes, we'll be good!" promised Bully.

"As good as we can," added his brother Bawly, as he tickled Grandpa Croaker with the bean shooter.

Then the No-Tail family of frogs hopped on and on, until they came to a nice place in the woods, where there was a little pond, covered with duck weed, in which they could swim.

"Here is where we will make our new home," said Papa No-Tail.

"Oh, how lovely it is," said Mrs. No-Tail, as she sat down to rest under a toadstool umbrella, for the sun was shining.

"Ger-umph! Ger-umph!" said Grandpa Croaker, in his deep, bass voice. "Very nice indeed."

"Fine!" cried Bully.

"Dandy!" said Bawly. "Come on in for a swim," and into the pond jumped the two frog boys. And they lived happily there in the woods for ever after.

So now we have come to the end of this book. But, if you would like to hear them, I have more stories to tell you. And I think I will make the next book about some goat children. Nannie and Billie Wagtail were their names, and the book will be called after them—"Nannie and Billie Wagtail." The goat children wagged their little, short tails, and did the funniest things; eating pictures off tin cans, and nibbling bill-board circus posters of elephants and lions and tigers. And there was Uncle Butter, the goat gentleman, who pasted wallpaper, and Aunt Lettie, the old lady goat, and——

But there, I will let you read the book yourself and find out all that happened to Nannie and Billie Wagtail. And until you do read that, I will just say good-bye, for a little while.

THE END



The Broncho Rider Boys Series By FRANK FOWLER

Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid

A series of stirring stories for boys, breathing the adventurous spirit that lives in the wide plains and lofty mountain ranges of the great West. These tales will delight every lad who loves to read of pleasing adventure in the open; yet at the same time the most careful parent need not hesitate to place them in the hands of the boy.

THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS WITH FUNSTON AT VERA CRUZ; or, Upholding the Honor of the Stars and Stripes.

When trouble breaks out between this country and Mexico, the boys are eager to join the American troops under General Funston. Their attempts to reach Vera Cruz are fraught with danger, but after many difficulties, they manage to reach the trouble zone, where their real adventures begin.

THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS AT KEYSTONE RANCH; or, Three Chums of the Saddle and Lariat.

In this story the reader makes the acquaintance of three devoted chums. The book begins in rapid action, and there is "something doing" up to the very time you lay it down.

THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS DOWN IN ARIZONA; or A Struggle for the Great Copper Lode.

The Broncho Rider Boys find themselves impelled to make a brave fight against heavy odds, in order to retain possession of a valuable mine that is claimed by some of their relatives. They meet with numerous strange and thrilling perils and every wide-awake boy will be pleased to learn how the boys finally managed to outwit their enemies.

THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS ALONG THE BORDER; or, The Hidden Treasure of the Zuni Medicine Man.

Once more the tried and true comrades of camp and trail are in the saddle. In the strangest possible way they are drawn into a series of exciting happenings among the Zuni Indians. Certainly no lad will lay this book down, save with regret.

THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS ON THE WYOMING TRAIL; or, A Mystery of the Prairie Stampede.

The three prairie pards finally find a chance to visit the Wyoming ranch belonging to Adrian, but managed for him by an unscrupulous relative. Of course, they become entangled in a maze of adventurous doings while in the Northern cattle country. How the Broncho Rider Boys carried themselves through this nerve-testing period makes intensely interesting reading.

THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS; or, The Smugglers of the Rio Grande.

In this volume, the Broncho Rider Boys get mixed up in the Mexican troubles, and become acquainted with General Villa. In their efforts to prevent smuggling across the border, they naturally make many enemies, but finally succeed in their mission.



The Boy Scouts Series By HERBERT CARTER

Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid

THE BOY SCOUTS ON WAR TRAILS IN BELGIUM; or, Caught Between the Hostile Armies. In this volume we follow the thrilling adventures of the boys in the midst of the exciting struggle abroad.

THE BOY SCOUTS DOWN IN DIXIE; or, The Strange Secret of Alligator Swamp. Startling experiences awaited the comrades when they visited the Southland. But their knowledge of woodcraft enabled them to overcome all difficulties.

THE BOY SCOUTS AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA. A story of Burgoyne's defeat in 1777.

THE BOY SCOUTS' FIRST CAMP FIRE; or, Scouting with the Silver Fox Patrol. This book brims over with woods lore and the thrilling adventure that befell the Boy Scouts during their vacation in the wilderness.

THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE; or, Marooned Among the Moonshiners. This story tells of the strange and mysterious adventures that happened to the Patrol in their trip among the moonshiners of North Carolina.

THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL; or, Scouting through the Big Game Country. The story recites the adventures of the members of the Silver Fox Patrol with wild animals of the forest trails and the desperate men who had sought a refuge in this lonely country.

THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE MAINE WOODS; or, The New Test for the Silver Fox Patrol. Thad and his chums have a wonderful experience when they are employed by the State of Maine to act as Fire Wardens.

THE BOY SCOUTS THROUGH THE BIG TIMBER; or, The Search for the Lost Tenderfoot. A serious calamity threatens the Silver Fox Patrol. How apparent disaster is bravely met and overcome by Thad and his friends, forms the main theme of the story.

THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES; or, The Secret of the Hidden Silver Mine. The boys' tour takes them into the wildest region of the great Rocky Mountains and here they meet with many strange adventures.

THE BOY SCOUTS ON STURGEON ISLAND; or, Marooned Among the Game Fish Poachers. Thad Brewster and his comrades find themselves in the predicament that confronted old Robinson Crusoe; only it is on the Great Lakes that they are wrecked instead of the salty sea.

THE BOY SCOUTS ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA; or, The Silver Fox Patrol Caught in a Flood. The boys of the Silver Fox Patrol, after successfully braving a terrific flood, become entangled in a mystery that carries them through many exciting adventures.



Transcriber's Notes

1. Punctuation has been normalized to contemporary standards.

2. Typographic errors corrected in original: p. 50 though to thought ("Bully thought of his bag") p. 62 "out out" to "out" ("life out of me") p. 204 think to thing ("first thing you know")

THE END