d thought
it a great shame that a poor little animal should be locked up in prison
for what seemed to her a very trivial offence. Toad, of course, in
his vanity, thought that her interest in him proceeded from a growing
tenderness; and he could not help half-regretting that the social gulf
between them was so very wide, for she was a comely lass, and evidently
admired him very much.

One morning the girl was very thoughtful, and answered at random, and
did not seem to Toad to be paying proper attention to his witty sayings
and sparkling comments.

'Toad,' she said presently, 'just listen, please. I have an aunt who is
a washerwoman.'

'There, there,' said Toad, graciously and affably, 'never mind; think no
more about it. _I_ have several aunts who OUGHT to be washerwomen.'

'Do be quiet a minute, Toad,' said the girl. 'You talk too much, that's
your chief fault, and I'm trying to think, and you hurt my head. As I
said, I have an aunt who is a washerwoman; she does the washing for all
the prisoners in this castle--we try to keep any paying business of that
sort in the family, you understand. She takes out the washing on Monday
morning, and brings it in on Friday evening. This is a Thursday. Now,
this is what occurs to me: you're very rich--at least you're always
telling me so--and she's very poor. A few pounds wouldn't make any
difference to you, and it would mean a lot to her. Now, I think if she
were properly approached--squared, I believe is the word you animals
use--you could come to some arrangement by which she would let you have
her dress and bonnet and so on, and you could escape from the
castle as the official washerwoman. You're very alike in many
respects--particularly about the figure.'

'We're NOT,' said the Toad in a huff. 'I have a very elegant figure--for
what I am.'

'So has my aunt,' replied the girl, 'for what SHE is. But have it your
own way. You horrid, proud, ungrateful animal, when I'm sorry for you,
and trying to help you!'

'Yes, yes, that's all right; thank you very much indeed,' said the Toad
hurriedly. 'But look here! you wouldn't surely have Mr. Toad of Toad
Hall, going about the country disguised as a washerwoman!'

'Then you can stop here as a Toad,' replied the girl with much spirit.
'I suppose you want to go off in a coach-and-four!'

Honest Toad was always ready to admit himself in the wrong. 'You are a
good, kind, clever girl,' he said, 'and I am indeed a proud and a stupid