bawly no-tail, the frog boy, was hopping along one day whistling a little tune about a yellow-spotted doggie, who found a juicy bone, and sold it to a ragman for a penny ice cream cone. after the little frog boy had finished his song he hopped into a pond of water and swam about, standing on his head and wiggling his toes in the air, just as when the boys go in bathing.
well, would you ever believe it? when bawly bounced up out of the water to catch his breath, which nearly ran away from him down to the five-and-ten-cent-store—when bawly bounced up, i say, who should he see but lulu wibblewobble, the duck girl, swimming around on the pond.
“hello, lulu!” called bawly.
“hello!” answered lulu. “come on, bawly, let’s see who can throw a stone the farthest; you or i.”
“oh, pooh!” cried the frog boy. “i can, of course. you’re only a girl.”
well, would you ever believe it? when bawly and lulu were out on the shore of the pond and had thrown their stones, lulu’s went ever so much farther than did bawly’s. oh! she was a good thrower, lulu was!
“well, anyhow, i can beat you jumping!” cried bawly. “now, let’s try that game.”
so they tried that, and, of course, bawly won, being a very good jumper. he jumped over two stones, three sticks, a little black ant and also a big one, a hump of dirt, two flies and a grain of sand. and, as for lulu, she only jumped over a brown leaf, a bit of straw, part of a stone and a little fuzzy bug.
“now we’re even,” said bawly, who felt good-natured again. “let’s go for a walk in the woods and we’ll get some wild flowers and maybe something will happen. who knows?”
“who knows?” agreed lulu. so off they started together, talking about the weather and ice cream cones and fourth of july and all things like that. for it was saturday, you see, and there was no school.
well, pretty soon, in a little while, not so very long, as bawly was hopping, and lulu was wobbling along, they heard a noise in the bushes. now, of course, when you’re in the woods there is always likely to be a noise in the bushes. sometimes it’s made by a fairy, and sometimes by a giant and sometimes by a squirrel or a rabbit, or a doggie, or a kittie, and sometimes only by the wind blowing in the treetops. and you can never tell what makes the noise until you look. so bawly and lulu looked to see what made the noise in the bushes.
“maybe it’s a giant!” exclaimed lulu.
“maybe it’s a fairy,” said bawly, and they looked and looked and pretty soon, in a jiffy, out came a man—just a plain, ordinary man.
“oh, me!” cried bawly.
“oh, my!” exclaimed lulu.
then they both started to run away, for they were afraid they might be hurt. but the man saw them going off, and he called after them.
“oh, pray don’t be frightened, little ones. i wouldn’t hurt you for the world. i was just looking for a frog and a duck, and here you are.”
“are—are you going to eat us?” asked bawly, blinking his eyes.
“no, indeed,” replied the man, kindly.
“are you going to carry us away in a bag?” asked lulu, wiggling her feet.
“oh, never, never, never!” cried the man, quickly. “i will put you in my pockets if you will let me, and i will do a funny trick with you.”
“a trick?” asked bawly, for he was very fond of them. “what kind?”
“a good trick,” replied the man. “you see, i am a magician in a show—that is i do all sorts of funny tricks, such as making a rabbit come out of a hat, or shutting a pig up in a box and changing it to a bird, and making a boy or girl disappear.
“i also do tricks with ducks and frogs, but the other day the pet frog and duck which i have got sick, and i can’t do any more tricks with them until they are better. but if you would come with me, i could do some tricks with you in the show, and i wouldn’t hurt you a bit, and i’d give you each ten cents, and you could have a nice time. will you come with me? i took a walk out in the woods specially to-day, hoping i could find a new duck or frog to use in my tricks.”
well, lulu and bawly thought about it, and as the man looked very kind they decided to go with him. so he put lulu in one of his big pockets and bawly in the other, and off he started through the woods.
and pretty soon he came to the place where he did the tricks. it was a big building, and there was a whole crowd of people there waiting for the magician—men and women and boys and girls.
“now, don’t be afraid, bawly and lulu,” said the man kindly, for he could talk duck and frog language. “no one will hurt you.”
so he put bawly and lulu down on a soft table, where the people couldn’t see them, and then that man did the most surprising and extraordinary tricks. he made fire come out of a pail of water, and he opened a box, and there was nothing in it, and he opened it again, and there was a rabbit in it. then he took a man’s hat, and he said:
“now, there is nothing in his hat but in a moment i am going to make a little frog come in it. watch me closely.”
well, of course, the people hardly believed him, but what do you think that man did? why, he took the hat and turned around, and when nobody was looking he slipped bawly off from the table and put him inside it—inside the hat, i mean, and then the magician said:
“presto-changeo! froggie! froggie! come into the hat!”
then he put his hand in, and lifted out bawly, who made a polite little bow, and the frog wasn’t a bit afraid. and, my! how those people did clap their hands and stamp their feet!
“now if some lady will lend me her handbag, i’ll make a duck come in it,” said the magician. so a lady in the audience gave him her handbag, and after the magician had taken out ten handkerchiefs, and a purse with no money in it, and a looking-glass, and some feathers all done up in a puff ball, and some peppermint candies, and two postage stamps and some chewing gum and five keys, why he went back on the stage. and as quick as a wink, when no one was looking, with his back to the people, he slipped lulu wibblewobble into the empty handbag, and she kept very quiet for she didn’t want to spoil the trick.
and then the magician turned to the audience, and he said:
“behold! behold!” and he lifted out the duck girl. oh my! how those people did clap; and the lady that owned the handbag was as surprised as anything. then the man did lots more tricks, and he called a boy, and told him to take lulu and bawly back home, after he had given them each ten cents. for his regular trick duck and frog were all well again, and he could do magic with them. so that’s how lulu and bawly were in a magical show, and they told all their friends about it and everyone was so surprised that they said: “oh! oh! oh!” more than forty-’leven times.
and next, if our new kitten, whose name is peter, doesn’t fall into a basket of soap bubbles and wet his tail so he can’t go to the moving picture show, i’ll tell you about bully no-tail and kittie kat.
