Poor old Grandfather Frog!  He wished more than ever that he never, never had thought of leaving the Smiling Pool to see the Great World.  Round and round he swam, but he couldn’t see any way out of it.  The little hole where the water ran out was too small for him to squeeze through, as he found out by trying and trying.  So far as he could see, he had just got to stay there all the rest of his life.  Worse still, he knew that Farmer Brown’s boy sometimes came to the spring for a drink, for he had seen him do it.  That meant that the very next time he came, he would find Grandfather Frog, because there was no place to hide.  When Grandfather Frog thought of that, he just lost heart.  Yes, Sir, he just lost heart.  He gave up all hope of ever seeing the Smiling Pool again, and two big tears ran out of his big goggly eyes.

XXI

THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES TRY TO COMFORT GRANDFATHER FROG

When the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind had left Grandfather Frog in the Long Lane where Farmer Brown’s boy had dropped him, and had hurried as fast as ever they could to try to find some of his friends to help him, not one of them had been successful.  No one was at home, and no one was in any of the places where they usually were to be found.  The Merry Little Breezes looked and looked.  Then, one by one, they sadly turned back to the Long Lane.  They felt so badly that they just hated to go back where they had left Grandfather Frog.

When they got there, they found Striped Chipmunk, who now was scolding Farmer Brown’s boy as fast as his tongue could go.

“Where is he?” cried the Merry Little Breezes excitedly.

Striped Chipmunk stopped scolding long enough to point to Farmer Brown’s boy, who was hunting in the grass for some trace of Grandfather Frog.

“We don’t mean him, you stupid!  We can see him for ourselves.  Where’s Grandfather Frog?” cried the Merry Little Breezes, all speaking at once.

“I don’t know,” replied Striped Chipmunk, “and what’s more, I don’t care!”

Now this wasn’t true, for Striped Chipmunk isn’t that kind.  It was mostly talk, and the Merry Little Breezes knew it.  They knew that Striped Chipmunk really thinks a great deal of Grandfather Frog, just as they do.  So they pretended not to notice what he said or how put out he seemed.  After a while, he told them that he had set Grandfather Frog free and that then he had started for the spring on the other side of the Long Lane.  The Merry Little Breezes were delighted to hear the good news, and they said such a lot of nice things to Striped Chipmunk that he quite forgot to scold Farmer Brown’s boy.  Then they started for the spring, dancing merrily, for they felt sure that there Grandfather Frog was all right, and they expected to find him quite at home.

“Hello, Grandfather Frog!” they shouted, as they peeped into the spring.  “How do you like your new home?”