FROGS, TOADS AND SOME GRAY-HAIRED LIES 441 



mouse by the hind quarter, the little mammal bury- 

 ing his sharp teeth in the frog's nose. Then again 

 did the milk-pond croaker exhibit an intelligence 

 and activity which I had always been led to be- 

 lieve these creatures never possessed. He kicked 

 with his hind legs and pawed with his fore legs 

 with such vigor that that rodent had very few op- 

 portunities of biting. Once the mouse's teeth fas- 

 tened upon the hind foot of the frog, causing him 

 to turn two or three complete somersaults in his 

 efforts to free himself. The mouse was so large 

 that it was no easy task for the frog to 

 swallow it. Slowly but surely, however, it dis- 

 appeared, until nothing but the head was visible. 



There being no water in the globe the frog 

 could not drown it, so he did the next best thing 

 choked it to death by squeezing its neck until the 

 poor rodent's bead-like eyes stuck out from its 

 head, and life was extinct. 



The globe in which the frog lived hung from 

 an iron perch occupied by a great horned owl; one 

 day I noticed that the frog was intently watching 

 the owl above it. Presently the owl moved its 

 foot and the frog straightened up its back in an 

 attitude of interest and attention. 



My esteemed friend, Mr. David Nicol, the well- 

 known engraver, occupied a studio next door and 

 I hastened in to tell him that 



THE FROG WAS ABOUT TO EAT THE OWL 

 and that I wanted him as a witness, because no one 

 would otherwise believe the story. 



