“Now,” he added, swelling out his white vest with an air of importance, “I am a frog, of course, but my family name is Rana. Please don’t forget it.”
[Illustration: “RUTH, HOLDING BELINDA TIGHTLY, DREW CLOSE TO THE EDGE OF THE BROOK”]
“Family name?” said Ruth, sitting down on the edge of the stone. “I didn’t know frogs had family names.”
“There’s a great deal you don’t know,” said Mr. Rana, in his decided way.
[Illustration: “‘HOW’S THAT?’ AND WITH A SPLASH A BIG GREEN AND BROWN FROG LANDED ON THE STONE AT HER FEET”]
“Maybe there is,” agreed Ruth, “but it isn’t very polite to tell me so.” Then, with a sudden thought, she added quickly, “Why, you are really talking.”
“Of course, I’m talking. Do you suppose it’s the first time?”
[Illustration: “‘I AM A FROG, OF COURSE, BUT MY FAMILY NAME IS RANA’”]
“He’s dreadfully snappy,” Ruth whispered to Belinda.
“It isn’t my fault that people can’t understand,” finished Mr. Rana, swallowing very fast.
“I wanted to understand,” declared Ruth meekly. “I was sure you could tell me such a lot of interesting things, and that nice fat toad in the garden too. He is so——”
“You’d better talk to the fat toad, then,” said Mr. Rana, looking very cross.
“Oh, dear,” sighed Ruth, “I didn’t mean I’d _rather_ talk to him. I do want you to tell me things. All about yourself, please.”
“Now you are showing your good sense,” said Mr. Rana, as Ruth settled herself with a ready-to-listen air. “Nothing can be more interesting than my story; but excuse me one second. I see Mrs. Mosquito. This morning I ate her husband, and now——”
His sentence was not finished, but Mrs. Mosquito was; and Mr. Rana folded his hands across his fat stomach and looked at Ruth, while a big smile played about his broad mouth.
[Illustration: “THAT NICE FAT TOAD IN THE GARDEN”]
“She’s gone,” said Ruth, in a slightly awed tone, “and I know you’ve swallowed her, but I wish you would tell me how you did it. I didn’t see you move.”
[Illustration: “‘I DIDN’T MOVE, BUT MY TONGUE DID’”]
“I didn’t move, but my tongue _did_, and it went so quick you couldn’t see it. When you eat, you bring things to your tongue, but when I eat, I send my tongue to my dinner. It’s a simpler way, I think. My tongue is rather wonderful too. It is fastened to my mouth in front, and rolled back; besides, it has a sort of glue on the end that catches whatever there is to catch. The number of pests I eat in a day would astonish you. Slugs, grubs, snails, mosquitoes, and—well, what’s the matter? You don’t like such things, I suppose. Tastes differ, you see. Now, to tell my story. What do you think I looked like when I was first hatched?”