“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.