ferdinand frog lost no time, after tired tim left him. he jumped into the swamp and made straight towards the very middle of it, whence he could already hear the chorus of the numerous frog family; for the singing-party had begun.

mr. frog made all haste, not wishing to miss any more of the fun. now swimming, now leaping from one hummock to another—or sometimes to an old stump—he quickly reached the place where the frog family were enjoying themselves.

"here he is!" several of the singers exclaimed as soon as ferdinand frog's head popped out of the water, in their midst.

he saw at once that they had been expecting him; and he smiled and bowed—and waited for the company to stop singing and give him a warm greeting with their cold, damp hands. but except for those first few words, no one paid the slightest attention to the newcomer.

in fact, nobody even took the trouble to nod to ferdinand frog—much less to shake hands with him and tell him that he was welcome.

meanwhile one song followed another with hardly a pause between them. and mr. frog found that he did not know the words of even one.

he was so impatient that at last he climbed upon an old fallen tree-trunk, which stuck out of the greenish-black water, and began to roar his favorite song, while he beat time for the other singers. the name of that song was "a frog on a log in a bog"; and ferdinand frog thought that he couldn't have chosen another so fitting.

but the rest of the singing-party had other ideas. they turned about and scowled at mr. frog as if he had done something most unpleasant.

"stop! stop!" several of them cried. and an important-looking fellow near him shouted, "don't sing that, for pity's sake!"

"why not?" ferdinand frog faltered. "what's the matter with my song? it's my special favorite, which i sing at least fifty times each night, regularly."

"it's old stuff," the other told him with a sneer. "we haven't sung that for a year, at least."

ferdinand frog did not try to argue with him. but as soon as he saw another chance he began a different ditty.

then a loud groan arose. and somebody stopped him again. and mr. frog soon learned that they hadn't sung that one for a year and a half.

though he tried again and again, he had no better luck. but he kept smiling bravely. and finally he asked the company in a loud voice if he "wasn't going to have a chance."

"certainly!" a number of the singers assured him. "your chance is coming later. we shan't forget you."

and that made ferdinand frog feel better. he told himself that he could wait patiently for a time—if it wasn't too long.[4