214 
NATURE S CRAFTSMEN 
“ From his seat upon the log, 
Taught them how to say ‘ Ker-chog! * 
Taught them how to dodge the blows 
From the sticks the bad boy throws. 
“ Twenty froggies grew up fast. 
Bullfrogs they became at last; 
Not a dunce among the lot, 
Not a lesson they forgot. 
“ Polished in a high degree, 
As each froggie ought to be; 
Now they sit on other logs, 
Teaching other little frogs.” 
“ And I,” contributed Uncle John, as Miss 
Merryhew turned obligingly to the table to write 
down the lines in response to the children’s de¬ 
lighted request,—“ I, in my dry and scientific 
way, simply catalogued the frogs as some of 
Nature’s most delightful choristers, and then re¬ 
alized that I had hit upon a rather interesting 
group—Nature’s musicians. How many of them 
can you name offhand—not counting the birds, of 
course.” 
“ First of all,” offered Mabel, “ is the house 
cricket—the cricket of the hearth. Since Time 
began he has been pictured with the comfortable 
fireside and the steaming kettle.” 
“ And there is no cosier note,” commented 
Grandfather, briefly. “ But alas! in these days 
