“Oh, I wasn’t going away,” Solomon assured him with an odd look which made Mr. Frog shiver again. “Be quick, please! Because I have some important business to attend to.”
Mr. Frog couldn’t help wondering if it wasn’t he himself that Solomon Owl was going to attend to. In spite of his fears, to work to cut up some cloth that hung just outside his door.
“Stop!” Solomon Owl cried in a voice that seemed to shake the very ground. “You haven’t measured me yet!”
“It’s not necessary,” Mr. Frog explained glibly. “I’ve become so skilful that one look at an elegant figure like yours is all that I need.”
Naturally, Mr. Frog’s remark pleased Solomon Owl. And he uttered ten rapid hoots, which served to make Mr. Frog’s fingers fly all the faster. Soon he was sewing Solomon’s coat with long stitches; and though his needle slipped now and then, he did not pause to take out a single stitch. For some reason, Mr. Frog was in a great hurry.
Solomon Owl did not appear to notice that the tailor was not taking much pains with his sewing. Perhaps Mr. Frog worked so fast that Solomon could not see what he was doing.
Anyhow, he was delighted when Mr. Frog suddenly cried:
“It’s finished!” And then he tossed the coat to Solomon. “Try it on!” he said. “I want to see how well it fits you.”
Solomon Owl held up the garment and looked at it very carefully. And as he examined it a puzzled look came over his great pale face.
There was something about his new coat that he did not understand.