ast he saw a chance, or thought he
did, and shot down. But all he got was a feather from that great wing
which Longlegs kept in front of him, and before he could get away, that
long bill had struck him twice, so that he screamed with pain. So they
fought and fought, till the ground was covered with feathers, and they
were too tired to fight any longer. Then, slowly and painfully, old
Whitetail flew away over the Green Meadows, and with torn and ragged
wings, Longlegs flew heavily down the Laughing Brook towards the Big
River, and both were sore and stiff and still hungry.

"Dear me! Dear me! What a terrible thing and how useless anger is," said
Grandfather Frog, as he climbed back on his big green lily-pad in the
warm sunshine.

VII

GRANDFATHER FROG'S BIG MOUTH GETS HIM IN TROUBLE

Grandfather Frog has a great big mouth. You know that. Everybody does.
His friends of the Smiling Pool, the Laughing Brook, and the Green
Meadows have teased Grandfather Frog a great deal about the size of his
mouth, but he hasn't minded in the least, not the very least. You see,
he learned a long time ago that a big mouth is very handy for catching
foolish green flies, especially when two happen to come along together.
So he is rather proud of his big mouth, just as he is of his goggly
eyes.

But once in a while his big mouth gets him into trouble. It's a way big
mouths have. It holds so much that it makes him greedy sometimes. He
stuffs it full after his stomach already has all that it can hold, and
then of course he can't swallow. Then Grandfather Frog looks very
foolish and silly and undignified, and everybody calls him a greedy
fellow who is old enough to know better and who ought to be ashamed of
himself. Perhaps he is, but he never says so, and he is almost sure to
do the same thing over again the first chance he has.

Now it happened that one morning when Grandfather Frog had had a very
good breakfast of foolish green flies and really didn't need another
single thing to eat, who should come along but Little Joe Otter, who had
been down to the Big River fishing. He had eaten all he could hold, and
he was taking the rest of his catch to a secret hiding-place up the
Laughing Brook.

Now Grandfather Frog is very fond of fish for a change, and when he saw
those that Little Joe Otter had, his eyes glistened, and in spite of his
full stomach his mouth watered.

"Good morning, Grandfather Frog! Have you had your breakfast y