an swim when they're in a carriage."

"You're a matter-of-fact monkey," said Aunt Emma. "Dear me, what's
that?"

For a loud squeak had suddenly startled the children, who were now
looking about them everywhere in vain, to find out where it came from.
Squeak! again. This time the voice certainly came from near Aunt Emma's
chair, but there was nothing to be seen.

"What a strange house you live in," said Aunt Emma, with a perfectly
grave face. "You must have caught a magician somehow. That's a
magician's squeak."

Again came the noise!

"I know, I know!" shouted Olly. "It's Aunt Emma's bag! I'm sure it came
out of the bag."

"My bag!"--holding it up and looking at it. "Now does it look like a bag
that squeaks? It's a perfectly well-behaved bag, and never did such a
thing in its life."

"I know, Aunt Emma," said Olly, dancing round her in great excitement.
"You've got the parrot in there!"

"Well now," said Aunt Emma. "This is really serious. If you think I am
such a cruel old woman as to shut up a poor poll-parrot in a bag,
there's no help for it, we must open the bag. But it's a very curious
bag--I wouldn't stand too near it if I were you."

Click! went the fastening of the bag, and out jumped--what do you think?
Why, the very biggest frog that was ever seen, in this part of the world
at any rate, a green speckled frog, that hopped on to Aunt Emma's knee,
and then on to the floor, where it went hopping and squeaking along the
carpet, till all of a sudden, when it got to the door, it turned over on
its back, and lay there quite quiet with its legs in the air.

The children followed it with looks half of horror, half of amazement.

"What is it, Aunt Emma? Is it alive?" asked Milly, jumping on to a chair
as the frog came near her, and drawing her little skirts tight round her
legs, while Olly went cautiously after it, with his hands on his knees,
one step at a time.

"You'd better ask it," said Aunt Emma, who had at last begun to laugh a
little, as if it was impossible to keep grave any longer. "I'm sure it
looks very peaceable just now, poor thing."

So the children crept up to it, and examined it closely. Yes, it was a
green speckled frog, but what it was made of, and whether it was alive,
and if it was not alive how it managed to hop and squeak--these were the
puzzles.

"Take hold of it, Milly," said Mr. Norton, who had just come up from his
work, and was standing laughing near the door. "Turn it over o