"No," replied Peter just a wee bit crossly. "My eyes are just as good as
ever."

"Then watch me catch that fly over yonder," said Old Mr. Toad. He hopped
towards a fly which had lighted on a blade of grass just ahead. About two
inches from it he stopped, and so far as Peter could see, he sat perfectly
still. But the fly disappeared, and it wasn't because it flew away, either.
Peter was sure of that. As he told Mrs. Peter about it afterwards, "It was
there, and then it wasn't, and that was all there was to it."

Old Mr. Toad chuckled. "Didn't you see that one go, Peter?" he asked.

Peter shook his head. "I wish you Would stop fooling me," said Peter. "The
joke is on me, but now you've had your laugh at my expense, I wish you
would tell me how you do it. Please, Mr. Toad."

Now when Peter said please that way, of course Old Mr. Toad couldn't resist
him. Nobody could.

"Here comes an ant this way. Now you watch my mouth instead of the ant and
see what happens," said Old Mr. Toad.

Peter looked and saw a big black ant coming. Then he kept his eyes on Old
Mr. Toad's mouth. Suddenly there was a little flash of red from it, so tiny
and so quick that Peter couldn't be absolutely sure that he saw it. But
when he looked for the ant, it was nowhere to be seen. Peter looked at Old
Mr. Toad very hard.

"Do you mean to tell me, Mr. Toad, that you've got a tongue long enough to