Now, my young friends, we are all about as much disappointed in the Lark as the frogs were. But of course we can't blame him for being homesick for his mate and his babies. But if he hadn't been, this story would have been longer. As it is, we shall just have to make the best of it. I will tell you a secret the Robins told me, if you promise never to tell.
The Robins have a nest near the Larks' nest, and of course they didn't want everyone else to know. But they said if I whispered it to my young friends it would be all right, they thought. But you must not repeat it loud enough for others to hear.
Just turn your ear this way and listen, so I can whisper it ever so softly. The Lark told the Robins he would soon start back to tell all the other frogs. He said he had heard of some of the queerest frogs in the world. A bird told him he knew where there were some frogs who carried their babies in a bag. One Robin said another bird told the Lark of a frog that would bring all her family of fifty or sixty children with her to the pond. The Robin spoke so low I didn't hear just how she was going to do it.
The Lark told the Robin he had heard of many other queer kinds of frogs, and that soon he was going to start out to find them. Some of the frogs, he said, had big feet, some had little feet. Some wore beautiful coats, and others wore very plain clothes. Some frogs he knew of could really fly, others lived in holes in the ground, and some had horns and some had none. The Lark said he had heard about these queer frogs from different birds who had told him where he could find them. He told the Robins some of them lived in places a long, long way from the old Frog Pond. It would take him many days to make the journey to their homes, but by flying fast he could see them all and be back before Jack Frost came.
As soon as the Lark goes, and the strange frogs begin to come to Bully's Frog Pond, I shall write and tell you all about them. I'm sure it will not be many days before Bully's friend starts on his journey. Mrs. Lark thinks that, with the help of the Robins and Grandfather Bull Frog's good advice, she can take care of her babies. You wait patiently until he returns. He flies fast, so it will not take him long to visit them all. Then as the frogs come hopping in from all parts of the world I will tell you about them in my next book, called Bully's Queer Relations. You will find that he had a great many of them.
It all depends on the Lark. If he fails to invite all the frogs to the Frog Pond, they will not come. But I do not believe that he will fail. He is too true a friend of the frogs to disappoint them now when so much depends on him. So you may count on the story.
THE TRUE TO NATURE SERIES
Adventures of Tommy Tad and Polly Wog
More Adventures of Tommy Tad and Polly Wog
Shellhouse, the Adventures of a Little Mud Turtle