two lawyers in Windham who had been most prominently connected
with the Wyoming plan,--the "Susquehannah Purchase" as it was
called,--every one was sure that a band of Indians bent on
revenge was approaching, and hearts beat fast in fear.

All night long the noises lasted, sometimes coming nearer,
sometimes dying away in the distance, and all night long the
people of Windham waited in dread and awful expectation. At last,
toward daybreak, the dark clouds slowly lifted and with the first
light in the east the sounds ceased. In the gray, early morning
men looked at each other and then crept silently back, each to
his own home. When the sun rose, clear and bright, and no French
and no Indians had appeared, Windham regained its courage, and
before the morning was over an explanation had been found of the
strange noises of the night.

The frogs in the millpond had had a great battle, or some
terrible catastrophe had overtaken them. Dead and dying frogs lay
on the ground all about the pond, and their gurgles and croaks
and clamor had made all the trouble and excitement. The story was
soon told all over Connecticut, and everybody laughed, and
ballads and songs were written about it, to the great mortification
of the people of Windham. Yet the danger that explained the
terror of that night was a real one in the history of many a
Connecticut town, and therefore the Frogs of Windham have their
legitimate place in Connecticut's story.


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