r he had had no breakfast, and it was now lunch
time. He was so hungry that it seemed to him that the sides of his
stomach certainly would fall in because there was nothing to hold them
up, and then, without any warning at all, old Whitetail the Marsh Hawk
had glided out across the Smiling Pool with his great claws stretched
out to clutch Grandfather Frog, and Grandfather Frog had dived into the
Smiling Pool with a great splash just in the very nick of time.

Now is there anything in the world so hard on the temper as to lose a
good meal when you are very, very, very hungry? Of course Longlegs
didn't really have that good meal, but he had thought that he was surely
going to have it. So when Grandfather Frog splashed into the Smiling
Pool, of course Longlegs lost his temper altogether. His yellow eyes
seemed to grow even more yellow.

"You robber! You thief!" he screamed harshly at old Whitetail.

Now old Whitetail was just as hungry as Longlegs, and he had come even
nearer to catching Grandfather Frog. He is even quicker tempered than
Longlegs. He had whirled like a flash on Jerry Muskrat, but Jerry had
just laughed in the most provoking manner and ducked under water. This
had made old Whitetail angrier than ever, and then to be called bad
names--robber and thief! It was more than any self-respecting Hawk could
stand. Yes, Sir, it certainly was! He fairly shook with rage as he
turned in the air once more and made straight for Longlegs the Blue
Heron.

"I'm no more robber and thief than you are!" he shrieked.

"You frightened away my Frog!" screamed Longlegs.

"I didn't!"

"You did!"

"I didn't! It wasn't your Frog; it was mine!"

"Chugarum!" said Grandfather Frog to Jerry Muskrat, as they peeped out
from under some lily-pads. "I didn't know I belonged to anybody. I
really didn't. Did you?"

"No," replied Jerry, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he watched
Longlegs and Whitetail, "it's news to me."

"You're too lazy to hunt like honest people!" taunted old Whitetail, as
he wheeled around Longlegs, watching for a chance to strike with his
great, cruel claws.

"I'm too honest to take the food out of other people's mouths!" retorted
Longlegs, dancing around so as always to face Whitetail, one of his
great, broad wings held in front of him like a shield, and his long,
strong bill ready to strike.

Every feather on Whitetail's head was standing erect with rage, and he
looked very fierce and terrible. At l