FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143  
>>  
gs on?" Toad, who was on the sofa by this time, with his legs up, rolled over on his face, shaken by sobs of contrition. "There, there!" went on the Badger, more kindly. "Never mind. Stop crying. We're going to let bygones be bygones, and try and turn over a new leaf. But what the Mole says is quite true. The stoats are on guard, at every point, and they make the best sentinels in the world. It's quite useless to think of attacking the place. They're too strong for us." "Then it's all over," sobbed the Toad, crying into the sofa cushions. "I shall go and enlist for a soldier, and never see my dear Toad Hall any more!" "Come, cheer up, Toady!" said the Badger. "There are more ways of getting back a place than taking it by storm. I haven't said my last word yet. Now I'm going to tell you a great secret." Toad sat up slowly and dried his eyes. Secrets had an immense attraction for him, because he never could keep one, and he enjoyed the sort of unhallowed thrill he experienced when he went and told another animal, after having faithfully promised not to. "There--is--an--underground--passage," said the Badger, impressively, "that leads from the river-bank, quite near here, right up into the middle of Toad Hall." "O, nonsense! Badger," said Toad, rather airily. "You've been listening to some of the yarns they spin in the public-houses about here. I know every inch of Toad Hall, inside and out. Nothing of the sort, I do assure you!" "My young friend," said the Badger, with great severity, "your father, who was a worthy animal--a lot worthier than some others I know--was a particular friend of mine, and told me a great deal he wouldn't have dreamt of telling you. He discovered that passage--he didn't make it, of course; that was done hundreds of years before he ever came to live there--and he repaired it and cleaned it out, because he thought it might come in useful some day, in case of trouble or danger; and he showed it to me. 'Don't let my son know about it,' he said. 'He's a good boy, but very light and volatile in character, and simply cannot hold his tongue. If he's ever in a real fix, and it would be of use to him, you may tell him about the secret passage; but not before.'" The other animals looked hard at Toad to see how he would take it. Toad was inclined to be sulky at first; but he brightened up immediately, like the good fellow he was. "Well, well," he said; "perhaps I am a bit of a talker.
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143  
>>  



Top keywords:
Badger
 

passage

 

friend

 
secret
 

bygones

 

crying

 

animal

 

houses

 

dreamt

 

discovered


listening

 
public
 

telling

 
worthy
 
worthier
 

father

 

severity

 

assure

 

inside

 

wouldn


Nothing

 

showed

 

looked

 

animals

 

tongue

 
inclined
 

talker

 

fellow

 

brightened

 

immediately


thought

 

cleaned

 
repaired
 

hundreds

 

trouble

 

volatile

 

character

 

simply

 

danger

 

useless


attacking
 
sentinels
 

strong

 

enlist

 

soldier

 
cushions
 

sobbed

 
stoats
 
shaken
 

contrition