“Not change it!” said the grass-snake. “And why not, pray? I should think myself a very stupid animal if I could not do that. Of course I change it, and then it looks and feels quite different to what it did when it was on me. You see, it is only just the outer part which comes off. That is quite thin, and I don’t think you would find it very much harder than the petal of a flower. Some day, perhaps, you may find it if you look about in the grass or the bushes; for I rub myself against the grass or bushes to get it off.”
“THERE ARE THREE FROGS IN MY STOMACH AT THE MOMENT”
“Then you do not swallow your skin as the toad does?” Tommy Smith asked.
“I should not like to do anything so nasty,” said the grass-snake angrily, “and I wish you wouldn’t keep talking to me about frogs and toads. They are very low animals, and only fit to be eaten.”
Tommy Smith was quite shocked when he heard this, and he said, “Take care, Mr. Grass-Snake. Frogs and toads are very useful animals, and my friends, too. So I won’t let you eat them.”
“That is talking nonsense,” said the grass-snake. “You can’t help my eating them, especially frogs. Why, there are three frogs in my stomach at this moment.”
Directly Tommy Smith heard that, he made a dart at the grass-snake, and caught hold of him before he could get away. I don’t know what he meant to do. Perhaps he meant to kill the poor snake, which would have been very wrong, as you will see. But before he had time to do anything at all, two curious things happened. One was that the snake opened his mouth very wide indeed, and out of it came first one, then another, and then a third frog. Yes; three large frogs came out of the snake’s mouth, one after the other, and there they all lay on the grass. That was one funny thing, and the other was that, as soon as Tommy Smith caught hold of the snake, the snake began to smell in a way that was not at all pleasant. Indeed, it was such a very nasty smell that Tommy Smith was glad to drop him, so that he got away into the bush again.
“Ah, ha!” the snake said, as soon as he was safe, “I thought you wouldn’t hold me very long. Just look at your hand now.”