"I will," said Woolly Worm. "This one isn't very comfortable. The reason I was afraid you'd eat me," he continued, "is because after I change my coat I'm so weak for a few hours I can't get about. You're sure you will not change your mind?" he asked a little anxiously.
"No, I promise you I won't," replied Bully. "Cross my heart and hope to die if I do," he said as he drew his hand criss-cross on the front of his vest.
"All right, I'll trust you then," said Woolly Worm. At once he began to hump his back and bend and twist about. Then his coat, like Bully's old coat, split wide open down the back. In a short time Woolly Worm had pulled it off. With the coat came also the lining to his stomach and intestines. He lay beside them looking very pale and feeble. Bully thought Woolly Worm was dying. He went a little nearer to him. "Are you dying?" he asked in alarm.
"Oh, no," answered Woolly Worm. "All I need is a few hours of rest and quiet. Then I'll be myself again."
"But your new coat?" gasped Bully. "Where is it?"
"I have it on," Woolly Worm answered in a feeble voice. "It takes a little time for it to get dry and hard. Please go away and let me alone."
"But don't you want me to stay with you? You look so sick," insisted Bully.
"No, no, go away, I want to sleep," said Woolly Worm crossly.
Bully went off a little distance, but he made up his mind to come back soon to see how his new friend was getting along. Bully was worried, Woolly Worm looked so weak and sick. But he forgot all about the worm when he heard Grandfather Bull Frog's big voice saying, "Hello, strangers, where are you from?" Bully hurried away to see who had arrived at the Frog Pond.