All at once Bobby Bobolink began to feel uncomfortable. And though he had intended to sing another song for Mr. Frog, he did not do it. Instead he said a[p. 78] hasty good-day and hurried home to his wife.
"My dear," Bobby said to Mrs. Bobolink in an anxious voice, "do you see anything queer about my appearance?"
She looked him over carefully.
"Why, no!" she answered at last. "Why do you ask me such an odd question?"
"Well," said Bobby, "Mr. Frog, the tailor, is always staring at me in the oddest fashion and snickering as if he saw something that amused him."
"Don't worry about that simpleton!" Mrs. Bobolink cried. "You look a great deal better than he does. And as for your voices, there's really no comparison. Yours is one of the finest in Pleasant Valley; but Ferdinand Frog's is nothing but a croak. It's even worse than old Mr. Crow's!"
[p. 79]After that Bobby Bobolink felt better. He knew that his wife was particular. And if she said he looked all right then he was sure he could have no cause to be uneasy.
"It must be only Mr. Frog's queer eyes," he said to Mrs. Bobolink. "I've been thinking that he saw something strange about me. But I must be mistaken."
Nevertheless, the very next time Bobby met Mr. Frog the tailor burst out laughing, right in his face. And again his eyes rolled from Bobby's head to his feet, and back again, in a most unpleasant leer.
"What on earth do you see to laugh at?" Bobby Bobolink demanded.