mr. frog had a delightful time listening to the remarks of his callers, who had no idea that he was so near at hand. and as the weather grew colder, they began to shiver and their voices began to shake. and by the time it was almost dark all the waiting company were quite discouraged.
"i'll never be able to stay out to-night!" chirpy cricket declared. "i'm so cold now that i can scarcely move."
and it was the same with everybody else. even freddie firefly complained that his light didn't warm him in the least. and he said he would have to go home at once.
"mr. crow will be very angry with us to-morrow when he learns we haven't called on kiddie katydid," somebody remarked. and a hush fell upon the company. but chirpy cricket had a happy thought, which made them all feel better.
"kiddie katydid won't stay out of doors on a night like this!" he suddenly exclaimed. "he'll find some snug place to creep into. and we wouldn't be able to find him in farmer green's dooryard even if we tried to."
"that's so!" chirpy's companions shouted.
"then there's no need of our freezing here any longer, waiting for that wretched tailor, mr. frog!" said freddie firefly.
and somehow, mr. frog did not smile quite so widely over that speech.
nevertheless, he was pleased, on the whole. and not waiting to watch the shivering party leave the neighborhood, he set off at once toward farmer green's house, making first for the river, which ran near the farm buildings, because mr. frog did not like to travel by land.
because the air was cool, the water felt all the warmer. and by the time mr. frog had reached his journey's end he was almost overheated. besides, as he noticed, it was not so cold in farmer green's dooryard as it had been by the creek.
he stopped, for a few moments, to cool himself in the watering-trough. and then he hopped briskly on to the front yard.
to his great delight he had scarcely reached the clump of maple trees when right above him he heard kiddie katydid's famous refrain.
"good evening!" mr. frog called. "i've brought a little present for you, all the way from the creek."
"how-dy do!" said kiddie katydid. "it's a cool night, isn't it?"
"you won't mind the weather when you put this on," mr. frog replied, holding up the small garment he had made that afternoon.
kiddie took his new coat from the twig kiddie took his new coat from the twig
"what's that?" kiddie katydid asked.
"an overcoat, fashioned expressly for you by the finest tailor in pleasant valley!" said mr. frog very proudly.
"you're exceedingly kind, i'm sure," said kiddie. and he was about to jump down and slip into the coat when he noticed that mr. frog had an extremely wide mouth. . . . suppose, after slipping into the coat, he should find himself slipping down the tailor's throat?
"just hang the coat on a twig and i'll get into it a little later," kiddie katydid suggested.
"i see!" mr. frog cried. "that's your way of accepting a gift. and i wouldn't dream of quarreling with you about that. so i'll hang the coat right here and go back to the watering-trough to wet my feet. while i'm gone you can try the coat on, and tell me how you like it when i come back."
"i hope it's a green one!" said kiddie katydid somewhat anxiously. "for if it isn't green, i couldn't wear it, you know. i always wear green. it's my favorite color."
"ah! trust me not to make a mistake!" mr. frog chuckled happily. and then he withdrew. but he could not help pausing for a moment, to look back and watch, while kiddie sprang down from his tree and took his new coat from the twig on which the tailor had hung it.
