kerchug, the leap frog, was all the time jumping. he stood every morning on the edge of the pond where he lived, and said to all the birds in the trees above him: “isn’t it wonderful how i can jump?” then all the birds would flap their wings and sing a song which began, “isn’t it a treat to see our leap frog jump so far?”
one day kerchug made a great big jump into the middle of the pool, and then swam back to the stone from which he always made his jumps. he waited for the birds to flap their wings and to sing about his jumping, but not one of them took any notice of him. instead of that, he found carrier pigeon roosting on a log near the pool and looking very solemn.
“wasn’t that a great jump?” asked kerchug.
carrier pigeon shook his head, and took out from under his wing a little paper envelope, which he gave to kerchug. kerchug opened the letter and when he had looked at it he turned white under the chin.
“read it to me, carrier pigeon,” he said, “i’ve just come out of the water, and my goggles are so damp that i can hardly see anything.”
so carrier pigeon swelled out his chest and stood on one leg and held the paper in his right claw as he read:
“i can leap further and higher and better than anything which wears a speckled skin and goggles. if kerchug is not a coward he will come away from the water and hop right out here in the wood and jump with me.
(signed)
“jumping jehosophat.”
“are his legs as long as mine?” asked kerchug, looking very hard at carrier pigeon.
“he had them curled under him when i saw him sitting in the woods,” answered carrier pigeon, “and really i cannot say.”
kerchug, the leap frog, heard all the birds twittering and whispering, up in the trees. he thought they were all laughing at him, so he gulped and swallowed and then said that he was very glad indeed to see carrier pigeon and that it was a very fine morning.
“you might say to your friend,” he added, “that i must have time to think this over, and you can come back in an hour.”
“very well,” answered carrier pigeon, “i’ll go back and tell him.”
when carrier pigeon had gone, kerchug put everything which he had in a red bandana handkerchief and tied it up and put the bundle on the end of a stick, which he rested on his shoulder. then he started for the bulrushes which grew along side of the pool. he had not gone very far before he met sly fox.
“good morning, kerchug, how is the jumping this morning?” asked sly fox.
“not very good,” answered kerchug, “besides, i have found that it is not a very healthy place to live around here. the pool is so very damp, and you know that i cannot stand malaria, so i have decided to move.”
“it seems to me,” said sly fox, “that you had better wait until you have finished this affair with jumping jehosophat. i am surprised that you should be afraid to jump with such an awkward looking creature as he is.”
“but i am afraid that he can go further than i can,” replied kerchug.
“don’t worry about that,” answered sly fox, “you just leave that to me. you tell him that you will meet him to-morrow morning.”
so kerchug, the leap-frog, hid his bundle in the bulrushes and marched back to the stone in front of the pool and croaked for carrier pigeon to come back.
“tell jumping jehosophat, whoever he is,” said he, “that i’ll meet him to-morrow morning at 9 o’clock under the old oak tree, and i will show him something about jumping.”
[18]
jumping jehosophat leaps with the big stone.
[19]
all the birds in the woods went the next morning to the old oak tree. the branches of the tree were so full of birds that some of them sagged way down. under the tree the ground was all hard and smooth. jumping jehosophat was there waiting. he was certainly a queer animal. he had a great big body and a little bit of a head. his hind legs were long and strong and his front legs were no bigger than a rabbit’s. as he stood up he was almost as tall as a man; his fur was gray and he had funny little eyes which twinkled as he talked. on his breast were at least a dozen medals for jumping. he folded his arms and hopped about on his hind legs.
“birds in the tree,” he said, “in me you see the great jumping jehosophat, the bounding kangaroo. because i jump so high i got away from the circus. now, then, where is that miserable little speckled green thing that thinks it can jump?”
nobody spoke for a long time and then sly fox came out from behind the bushes, carrying a bulrush for a cane.
“birds in the tree,” said sly fox, “the great and only kerchug, the only creature who is not afraid to leap both in the water and on the dry land, has just finished his test, and is now on his way to show how a truly great leap frog can jump.”
“there he is!” screamed all the birds up in the tree. and, sure enough, there came kerchug, all dressed up in green tights, with spangles all over them. sly fox, who had gone into the bushes to bring him out, came up behind him, carrying a great, big stone.
“with this e-nor-mous stone,” said sly fox, “kerchug has just leaped 100 times, so as to get ready for some real[20] jumping. he will now wait until this poor and awkward creature here has a chance to do the same, so that you will all say that he has been fair.”
“o, that is easy!” said jumping jehosophat.
so the bounding kangaroo took the big stone in his little arms and jumped up into the air 100 times.
“now, then,” said sly fox, “we shall have the pleasure of seeing who is the better jumper, jumping jehosophat, the bounding kangaroo, or my little friend here, who leaps as well on the dry land as in the wettest pool.”
then kerchug made a great, big jump, and sly fox marked the place.
jumping jehosophat, who was all tired out and sore by leaping when he carried the big stone, could only make a little bit of a jump, and did not come within a foot of the place where kerchug had leaped. he was so ashamed that he ran into the bushes and hid. so kerchug, all covered with medals, went back to his pool, hand in hand with his friend, sly fox, and all the birds in the trees, as they flew away, cried out: “what a wonderful jumper is our little friend kerchug, the leap-frog!”
