birds, and
trying the windows of all the pantries they knew,--

"B-row!" said the Cat, snuffing the air; "do you know--I'm not quite
certain--but--yes, really--I smell mouse."

"Mew!" said the kittens; "we're so glad."

"And I think, also, rat."

"Oh, come along!" said the kittens.

"Don't make a noise," whispered the Cat.

Slowly and cautiously they crept on towards Mrs. Mousey's cottage, till
at an unexpected moment, and just as Mrs. Mouse was going to get a fresh
mug of beer, in tumbled the Cat and her kittens. Down went the Rat under
the Cat's paw--up in a corner the two kittens got the Mouse.

"M-row-ow, fit-z-z!" and Rat and Mouse were killed.

"Holla!" says the Frog; "this won't do! Perhaps they'll be after me in a
minute. I must be off home to my mother." And sure enough off he went
(trembling like a leaf), but as rapidly as he could. "Oh, why did I ever
leave home?" said this foolish Frog: "I should have been safe enough
with my mother. I'll never leave home again. Never! never! never!"

"Quack, quack!" observed a Duck who had been watching him.

"Oh, my goodness gracious!" said the Frog; "what shall I do now? There's
the very Duck that ate up my uncle who went abroad! Now, if I can't
cross over this brook in a single jump, I shall never get home alive.
Here goes!"

But, alas! since it must be told, he could not cross the brook in one
jump.

In he fell--splash! Up came the Duck.

"Quack, quack! gobble, gobble, gobble!" and the poor Frog never got home
at all.

We are all sorry for his untimely end, and wish that the Duck had not
gobbled him up: but we must not forget that if he had been less
self-willed and obstinate, if he had only paid attention to what his
mother told him, he might have been safe at home--perhaps, in due
course, married to an amiable Frog, and the father of a large family of
innocent little tadpoles.

[Illustration: EDM EVANS.

ENGRAVER & PRINTER.

RAQUET COURT. FLEET ST.]

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

There was some variation between the hyphenation of the text itself and
of the text of the illustrations. These variations were retained.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Frog Who Would A Wooing Go, by Charles Bennett

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FROG WHO WOULD A WOOING GO ***

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