“If so, why so?” The question was asked in a funny, croaking voice.
“If so, why so?” mimicked Feather Flop. “Because it is so. So there!”
“Yes, certainly, if saying so makes it so,” replied the voice. “But it is not so in my opinion. For instance—pardon me till I catch that fly—how many snails do you imagine I have eaten to-day?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Feather Flop; “but I do know this. I know I am the biggest benefit to the garden.”
“I beg pardon, sir,” answered the other; “I think I can easily prove I am the biggest benefit to the garden.”
“Cluck! Caw!” exclaimed Feather Flop. “You mean you are the biggest toad in the puddle, Hoppy, you poor old toad!”
“Ho! Ho!” thought Mary Frances. “So it’s a hop toad! I just believe it’s that big fellow that lives under the stepping stone. I think I’d know him. I believe I’ll peep!”
She looked cautiously around the tree. “It is! It is that same fellow I really believe! My, I wish I could ask him some questions!”
“Indeed, I do not mean anything of the kind, Mr. Feather Flop,” retorted the hop toad, and Mary Frances could see his throat swell with indignation. “I mean that I am actually and truly one of the most helpful living things to have in a garden.”