Hoppy Toad, who had been confined all winter to his underground home, was a happy fellow when once again he breathed the good fresh air.
He hopped into the pond joyfully and enjoyed a good long swim; then he chatted for a while with the frogs and young tadpoles.
“My, but I’m a happy boy,” he said to himself.
Hopping along the ground close to his home—he never had strayed away since he got lost in the woods and Billy Bull-Frog showed him the way home—he was startled to see Bunny Rabbit running toward him as fast as his legs would carry him.
As he neared Hoppy Toad, Hoppy shouted, “What is your hurry?”
Bunny Rabbit replied, “Tommy Ferret is chasing me; guess he is hungry and wants to make a meal off me. I can’t hold out much longer.”
Hoppy Toad said, “Scoot for that opening in yonder tree; he will never find you there.”
Bunny Rabbit wasted no time in doing what Hoppy Toad told him to, and was soon safely lodged in the tree. It was a good thing that he did, for a moment later, Tommy Ferret, with red eyes that seemed to pop right out of his head, came into view.
Noticing Hoppy Toad, he stopped, and asked, “Did you see anything of Bunny Rabbit? He came this way, I think.”
Bunny Rabbit, from within the tree, shook all over; he was afraid that Tommy Ferret might find him in his hiding place. But here was where Hoppy Toad saved him.