"Don't sing that, for pity's sake!"

"Why not?" Ferdinand Frog faltered. "What's the matter with my song?
It's my special favorite, which I sing at least fifty times each night,
regularly."

"It's old stuff," the other told him with a sneer. "We haven't sung that
for a year, at least."

Ferdinand Frog did not try to argue with him. But as soon as he saw
another chance he began a different ditty.

Then a loud groan arose. And somebody stopped him again. And Mr. Frog
soon learned that they hadn't sung that one for a year and a half.

Though he tried again and again, he had no better luck. But he kept
smiling bravely. And finally he asked the company in a loud voice if he
"wasn't going to have a chance."

"Certainly!" a number of the singers assured him. "Your chance is coming
later. We shan't forget you."

And that made Ferdinand Frog feel better. He told himself that he could
wait patiently for a time--if it wasn't too long.

VIII

THE MISSING SUPPER

Ferdinand Frog had begun to feel uneasy again. He was afraid that the
singers had forgotten their promise to him. But at last they suddenly
started a rousing song which made him take heart again.

They roared out the chorus in a joyful way which left no doubt in his
mind that his chance was at hand:

"Now that the concert is ended
We'll sit at the banquet and feast.
Now that the singing's suspended
We'll dine till it's gray in the east."

Mr. Frog only hoped that the company did not expect him to sing to them
_all_ the time while they were banqueting.

"They needn't think--" he murmured under his breath--"they needn't think
I don't like good things to eat as well as they do." But he let no one
see that he was worried. That was Ferdinand Frog's way: almost always he
managed to smile, no matter how things went.

When the last echoes of the song had died away a great hubbub arose.
Everybody crowded around Mr. Frog. And there were cries of "Now! Now!"

He thought, of course, that they wanted to hear him sing. So he started
once more to sing his favorite song. But they stopped him quickly.

"We've finished the songs for to-night," they told him. "We're ready for
the supper now. . . . Where is it?"

"Supper?" Mr. Frog faltered, as his jaw dropped. "What supper?"

"The supper you're going to give us!" the whole company shouted. "You
know--don't you?--that we have just made a rule for new members: they're
to f