!"
he urged. "It may please you, after all."

So Solomon Owl pulled the coat over his head. And it fell down about him,
almost reaching his feet. But the coat did not seem to suit him at all,
for he began to splutter and choke.

"What's the matter now?" Mr. Frog asked him.

"I can't see--that's what's the matter!" Solomon Owl cried in a voice that
sounded hollower than ever, because it was muffled by the hood, which
covered his head.

"I declare--I haven't cut the holes for your eyes!" the tailor exclaimed.
"Just wait a moment and I'll make everything satisfactory." He clinked his
shears together sharply as he spoke.

But Solomon Owl told him that he wouldn't _think_ of letting anybody use
shears so near his eyes.

[_Illustration 1_]

Solomon Found Mr. Frog's Shop Was Closed

"I'll take off the coat," he said. "And I know now that you're a very poor
tailor, or you wouldn't have made such a mistake." He began to tug at the
coat. But he soon found that taking it off was not so easy as putting it
on. Solomon's sharp claws caught in the cloth; and his hooked beak, too,
fastened itself in the hood the moment he tried to pull the coat over his
head. "Here!" he cried to Mr. Frog. "Just lend me a hand! I can't see to
help myself."

But Mr. Frog did not even answer him.

"Don't you hear me?" Solomon Owl shouted, as he struggled with his new
coat, only to become tangled in it more than ever.

Still, the tailor said never a word, though something very like a giggle,
followed by a splash, caught Solomon's ear.

"He's left me!" Solomon Owl groaned.

"Mr. Frog has left me to get out of this coat alone. And goodness knows
how I'm ever a-going to do it." He threshed about so vigorously that he
tripped himself and fell upon the bank of the brook, rolling over and over
toward the water.

He had a very narrow escape. If he hadn't happened to bring up against an
old stump he would certainly have tumbled into the stream.

Though Solomon couldn't see, he knew that he was in danger. So he lay on
his back on the ground and carefully tore his new coat into strings and
ribbons.

At last he was free. And he rose to his feet feeling very sheepish, for he
knew that Mr. Frog had played a sly trick on him.

"Nevermind!" said Solomon Owl, as he flew way. "I'll come back to-morrow
and ask Mr. Frog to make me a waistcoat and trousers. And then----" He did
not finish what he was saying.