here besides singin'. Ain't it a splendid prospect that,
havin' these young frogs settled all round you in the
same mud-hole, all gathered in a, nice little musical
family party. All fine fun this, till some fine day we
Yankee storks will come down and gobble them all up, and
make clear work of it.

"No, Squire, take my advice now for once; jist go to
your colony minister when he is alone. Don't set down,
but stand up as if you was in airnest, and didn't come
to gossip, and tell him, 'Turn these ponds into a lake,'
sais you, my lord minister, give them an inlet and an
outlet. Let them be kept pure, and sweet, and wholesome,
by a stream, runnin' through. Fish will live there then
if you put them in, and they will breed there, and keep
up the stock. At present they die; it ain't big enough;
there ain't room. If he sais he hante time to hear you,
and asks you to put it into writin', do you jist walk
over to his table, take up his lignum vitae ruler into
your fist, put your back to the door, and say 'By the
'tarnal empire, you _shall_ hear me; you don't go out of
this, till I give you the butt eend of my mind, I can
tell you. I am an old bull frog now; the Nova Scotia pond
is big enough for me; I'll get drowned if I get into a
bigger one, for I hante got no fins, nothin' but legs
and arms to swim with, and deep water wouldn't suit me,
I ain't fit for it, and I must live and die there, that's
my fate as sure as rates.' If he gets tired, and goes to
get up or to move, do you shake the big ruler at him, as
fierce as a painter, and say, 'Don't you stir for your