voice.

"I! Steal your plum-pudding!" exclaimed the Frog, indignantly. "Surely
you must be mistaken! I am not at all fond of plum-pudding, and,
besides, I have been very busy at home during the past week."

"What have you been doing?" asked the King.

"I will tell you, for then you will know I am innocent of this theft."

So the Bullfrog squatted on a footstool, and, after blinking solemnly
at the King and his Wise Men for a moment, spoke as follows:

THE FROG'S STORY.

"Some time ago my wife and I hatched out twelve little tadpoles. They
were the sweetest children parents ever looked on. Their heads were all
very large and round, and their tails were long and feathery, while
their skins were as black and shiny as could be. We were proud of them,
my wife and I, and took great pains to train our children properly,
that they might become respectable frogs, in time, and be a credit to
us.

"We lived in a snug little hole under the bank of the river, and in
front of our dwelling was a large stone on which we could sit and watch
the baby tadpoles grow. Although they loved best to lie in the mud at
the bottom of the river, we knew that exercise is necessary to the
proper development of a tadpole; so we decided to teach our youngsters
to swim. We divided them into two lots, my wife training six of the
children, while I took charge of the other six. We drilled them to swim