Bully was so sad he could just croak weakly, "Oo-oo, if only all the frogs could come here and live with us!"
"That would be splendid," said the Lark, "but that dreadful noise you make each evening would be much louder than it is now, and I think the birds would all go crazy."
"Don't you like it?" asked Bully innocently. "That is our grand frog chorus. Surely it's the most beautiful music in the whole world."
Now the Lark, as we all know, is one of the finest singers in woods and fields. "Oh, pardon me, I didn't know it was singing," he said, as he put his head under his wing to hide a smile. "But if you do invite all those other frogs to come here, I think I shall make my home in another neighborhood."
Bully wondered why he should want to move away from the banks of the Frog Pond. Surely, thought he, there's not a better neighborhood in Rainbow Valley. He could only think his friend must be joking. "Well," said Bully sighing, "you needn't move. I don't suppose we shall ever invite them. How can we get an invitation to them? If only there were some way to get them word of this lovely place, I'm sure they would come."
The Lark looked at Bully for a moment, then stretched first one wing and then the other as far as he could, smoothing each feather until exactly right. He then flirted his tail this way and that, looked over his breast-feathers very carefully, and at last decided he was in perfect trim. He settled down on the old log much pleased with himself as he quietly pulled a big, fat worm out of a hole and ate it.
Bully sat looking at him thoughtfully. He admired this handsome friend of the forest and was much pleased when at last he said, "If you really want a messenger, I think I could take your invitation."
"You?" said Bully, and his eyes bulged larger than ever. "Could you really fly that far?" he asked.
"Oh, of course I could, and much farther," answered the Lark. "You see, my family were all hatched two weeks ago. Mother Lark can easily care for the babies. I am sure she would be perfectly willing for me to go. She knows I need rest and a little vacation. You know, I worked pretty hard helping to build the nest and singing to her while she sat on the eggs. She will not mind at all, I'm sure, if I go."
"Oh," said Bully, "you are the very best bird in the world! When could you start?"