09

Brother Green-Coat

Aunt Molly told Betty a very interesting story about a queer little friend of hers. As you read the story, see how soon you can guess who this little friend was.

AUNT MOLLY'S LTTTLE FRIEND

One warm day in spring Betty and Aunt Molly were sitting in the little summer-house by the pool.

“I wonder,” said Aunt Molly, “how my little friend is, who lives in this pool.”

“Why, who is he, Aunt Molly?” asked Betty in surprise. “And what does he look like?”

“The first time I saw him he was very, very small,”answered her aunt, “He was as black as coal,and he had no arms or legs. He had only a big head and a long tail.”

“Only a head and a tail!” cried Betty.

Her aunt smiled, as she went on, “But in a few days I saw him again. Then his tail was longer than before and, strange to say, he had two legs. The next time we met, he was bigger still and had arms as well as legs, but his long tail was gone. The last time I saw him, he was more than a hundred times as big as at first, and he wasn't black at all; he was a beautiful green and white.”

Betty thought and thought. “Do you really see him in this pool, Aunt Molly?” she asked.

“All summer long he plays near the summer house,”answered her aunt, “But I never see him in the winter time, for then this little friend of mine goes to a warm home under the ground. There he stays until days like this come again, because he does not like the cold weather.”

“Have you seen him today?” asked Betty.

“Yes, I saw him just a little while ago. He is wearing a bright green coat, and his trousers are as white and clean as if he had never lived under the ground. I call him Brother Green-Coat. There! I can see him now!”

BETTY FINDS BROTHER GREEN-COAT

Betty sat up quickly and looked about her. On each side of the little summer-house were tall elm trees. A robin was calling from one of them,“Cheer-up! Cheer-up! Cheer-up!”and a bluejay answered crossly,“Can't! Can't! Can't!”

“I know it isn't the robin,” said Betty. “A robin doesn't have a green coat, and he doesn't live under the ground in winter. He goes South. And it can't be the bluejay. I've seen that bluejay all winter long. Did you ever talk to Brother Green-Coat, Aunt Molly? What did you say to him and oh! did he ever say anything to you?”

“The strange thing about Brother Green-Coat,”said Aunt Molly, “is that he never says anything when he wears black. But when he puts on his coat of green, he talks, and even sings. I have learned to understand some of his strange words and songs.”

“Please tell me some of the things he says, Aunt Molly,” begged Betty.

“Sometimes he tells me that he is very happy,”said Aunt Molly, “Sometimes he says that he likes the warm air. Sometimes he sings a song that says he is going soon for a swim in the pool. And when he tells me this, it sounds just like‘Brek-kek-kek-kek! Brek-kek-kek-kek!'”

Betty was looking out over the pool. There, on an old log in the water, sat a bright-eyed little fellow in a coat of green, with trousers of white. In answer to Aunt Molly he puffed himself out and called boldly,“Brek-kek-kek-kek! Brek-kek-kek-kek!”

“You mean the frog! Brother Green-Coat is a frog!”cried Betty.“But you said you saw him once when he was as black as coal. How can that be? Frogs are always green, aren't they?”

“Didn't you ever see the little black tadpoles wiggling about in the pool?”asked her aunt, “Before Brother Green-Coat puts on his green coat and white trousers, he is a big tadpole, with arms and legs and long tail. And before that, he is a tiny tadpole, all head and tail and very black.”

“Has Brother Green-Coat really a home under the ground?” asked the little girl.

“Yes,” said Aunt Molly. “When winter comes, he lives in a warm home deep in the mud at the bottom of the pool. But even down there in the dark he knows when spring is here. Then he leaves his winter home, to come up into the bright sunlight.”

“How clean Brother Green-Coat is!” said Betty. “He doesn't look as if he had been living in the mud.”

“I haven't told you all about him yet,”said Aunt Molly.“Come with me to the old log. I think we may find something there that looks as Brother Green-Coat did the very first time I saw him.”

Yes! There, on top of the water, was something that looked like clear, white jelly,full of little black dots.

“The black dots are frogs' eggs,” said Aunt Molly.“The little tadpoles are hatched from them.”

“So big Brother Green-Coat was once only a tiny black dot!” laughed Betty. “There! he has jumped into the pool. No wonder his green coat is so bright, and his white trousers are so clean. They get washed whenever he goes for a swim.”

“Good-by, Brother Green-Coat!” she called, as she and her aunt turned to go home. “I will come back every day to see you, for you are more wonderful than anything I have read about in my fairy-story book.”

1. Who was Aunt Molly's little friend?

2. How did Brother Green-Coat look when he was a little tadpole? When he became a big tadpole? When he became a frog?

3. How do frogs' eggs look?

4. Where do frogs live in the winter time?