"Goody gracious! what's that?" screamed little Ruth Page, and then, the
very next moment, she began to laugh and jump and clap her hands, to see
what a scampering there was among the poor silly fish, and all for
nothing! said she; for out came a great good-natured bull-frog, with an
eye like a bird, and a big bell-mouth, and a back all frosted over with
precious stones, and dripping with sunshine; and there he sat looking at
her awhile, as if he wanted to frighten her away; and then he opened his
great lubberly mouth at her, and bellowed out, "_Once! once!_" and
vanished.
"Luddy tuddy! who cares for you?" said little Ruth; and so, having got
over her fright, she began to creep to the edge of the bank once more,
and look down into the deep water, to see what had become of the little
fish that were so plentiful there, and so happy but a few minutes before.
But they were all gone, and the water was as still as death; and while
she sat looking into it, and waiting for them to come back, and
wondering why they should he so frightened at nothing but a bull-frog,
which they must have seen a thousand times, the poor little simpletons!
and thinking she should like to catch one of the smallest and carry it
home to her little baby-brother, all at once a soft shadow fell upon the
water, and the scented wind blew her smooth hair all into her eyes, and
as she put up both hands in a hurry to pull it away, she heard something
like a whisper close to her ear, saying, "_Twice! twice!_" and just then
the trailing branch of a tree swept over the turf, and filled the whole
air with a storm of blossoms, and she heard the same low whisper
repeated close at her ear, saying, "_Twice! twice!_" and then she
happened to look down into the water,--and what do you think she saw
there?
"Goody gracious, mamma! is that you?" said poor little Ruth; and up she
jumped, screaming louder than ever, and looking all about her, and
calling, "Mamma, mamma! I see you, mamma! you needn't hide, mamma!" But
no mamma was to be found.
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