THE FROG.
She commenced fanning herself again, still wondering about the prince and King Caloric, and looking at the fan, in hopes the little face would appear again.
And in a few moments something did seem to be coming out on another slat; and as Tina looked, she saw it was a face, but not the same one she had seen before.
This one was laughing, and the more it laughed the wider the mouth became, and the broader the face.
“That is the funniest looking thing I ever saw,” thought Tina, as she watched it.
The face grew and grew, and in a few minutes a body appeared; that, too, swelled and swelled.
[Frogs]
“It looks like a frog,” said Tina, and just as she said this, hop went the figure into the middle of the floor.
“It is a frog,” said Tina; and sure enough, there it stood on its hind legs.
“Well, I never,” said Tina.
“Knee-deep,” said the frog.
“What did you say?” asked Tina.
“Bottle o’ rum,” said the frog.
“That’s funny talk,” she said; and as she spoke the frog went hopping out of the door, and the first thing she knew, she was hopping after him.
“I believe I’m a frog, too,” she thought.
They went hopping along, till they came to a marshy stream.
The frog sat down, and said, “Knee-deep!” when up hopped another frog and almost knocked Tina over.
It laid its hand on its stomach, and began to sing:
“Come, come, come,Come to the marsh so green,Where reeds and rushes grow,And turtles gay are seen.”
“Come, come, come,Come to the marsh so green,Where reeds and rushes grow,And turtles gay are seen.”
“Come, come, come,Come to the marsh so green,Where reeds and rushes grow,And turtles gay are seen.”
“Come, come, come,
Come to the marsh so green,
Where reeds and rushes grow,
And turtles gay are seen.”
The big frog pointed to Tina, and, making one leap, jumped into the water. The other frog jumped in after him, and Tina was left alone.
In a few moments the big frog came up to the surface and began to sing, in a hoarse voice:
“Down, down, down,Down in the water cold,Down in the water clear;Here is my hand, take hold,Come, come with me, my dear.”
“Down, down, down,Down in the water cold,Down in the water clear;Here is my hand, take hold,Come, come with me, my dear.”
“Down, down, down,Down in the water cold,Down in the water clear;Here is my hand, take hold,Come, come with me, my dear.”
“Down, down, down,
Down in the water cold,
Down in the water clear;
Here is my hand, take hold,
Come, come with me, my dear.”
“Oh! I don’t want to go,” said Tina. “I don’t like to be a frog.”
“But you must,” said the frog; and he reached up his hand and drew her down, “plump” into the water.
But just as she was going, she found it wasn’t the water at all, that she had only rolled off the sofa. So she got up and began to fan again.