"Why?" asked Sammie Littletail.
"Because," said Bully, "that bird will eat us. My father warned me never to stay near that bird. Let us go away at once."
"What sort of a bird is it?" asked Sammie, who now had no wish to jump. "I'm sure it can't be very harmful. The only birds that I have to look out for are owls, eagles and hawks, and it isn't any of them."
"No, I'm not one of them," spoke the bird with the long legs, snapping its bill as if sharpening it. "I'm a blue heron, that's what I am, though some folks think I'm a stork or a crane."
"Well," spoke Sammie, "you're not dangerous, are you?"
"Not for you," went on the blue heron, and he snapped his beak again, just like two knives being sharpened. "I came for that fellow," and the bird lowered the leg it had hidden under its feathers and pointed at the frog. "I came for you," the heron went on. "You're wanted at once. What's your name?"
Sammie Littletail thought the bird might have asked the frog's name first before saying that Bully was wanted, but the bird did not seem to consider this.
"What's your name?" the long-legged bird asked again.
"Bully," answered the frog, in a trembling, croaking voice.
"Humph!" exclaimed the heron. "That's a good name. Mine is Billy. Bully and Billy go well together. I'm called Billy because I have such a long bill, you see," the heron explained to Sammie Littletail. "But enough of this. I've come for you, Bully. I'm hungry. I'm going to eat you. That's why you're wanted at once and immediate."