y.

Chirpy Cricket had no idea what he was talking about.

"Whom did you catch?" he asked.

"The fly!" Mr. Cricket Frog replied.

"Don't you think you took a great risk, leaping above the water like
that?" Chirpy inquired. "Aren't you worried for fear you'll fall into the
pond some day, if you jump for flies in that careless fashion?"

Mr. Cricket Frog tried not to smile.

"Bless you!" he exclaimed. "I spend half my time in the water. Please
don't think I'm boasting when I say I'm a fine swimmer. You'll understand
why when you look at my feet." And he held up a foot so that Chirpy
Cricket might see it.

Chirpy noticed that there were webs between Mr. Cricket Frog's toes. And
everybody knows that webbed feet are the best for swimming.

Mr. Cricket Frog wanted to be agreeable. "Would you like to see me swim?"
he asked.

"Yes, thank you!" Chirpy replied.

So Mr. Cricket Frog leaped nimbly into the water and began to swim among
the lily-pads while Chirpy watched him and admired his skill.

All at once Chirpy heard a splash. And he was just about to ask Mr.
Cricket Frog what it could be, when he noticed something queer about his
new friend. He was no longer swimming. He was floating, motionless, upon
the water. Not by a single movement of any kind did he show that he was
alive.

XVIII

MR. CRICKET FROG'S TRICK

"What's the matter? Are you hurt?" Chirpy Cricket called to Mr. Cricket
Frog from the bank of the duck-pond. Ever since a splash near-by had
interrupted their talk, Mr. Cricket Frog had not swum a single stroke. He
was floating, motionless, upon the surface of the water. And he made no
reply whatever to Chirpy's questions. He acted exactly as if he had not
heard them. The fitful breeze caught at Mr. Cricket Frog's limp form and
wafted it about.

Chirpy Cricket couldn't help being alarmed. And yet he almost thought,
for a moment, that he saw Mr. Cricket Frog's eyes rolling in his
direction, as he stood on the bank of the pond. If Mr. Cricket Frog was
in trouble, Chirpy knew of no way to help him. And after a time he made
up his mind that Mr. Cricket Frog was beyond anybody's help. Chirpy was
about to go back to the farmyard when Mr. Cricket Frog came suddenly to
life.

"Meet me here to-morrow!" he called. Then he dived to the bottom of the
water. And Chirpy Cricket went home, thinking that it was all very
queer.

"What happened to you yesterday?" Chirpy asked Mr. Cricket Frog, when he
ca