The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Pirate Frog and Other Tales, by W. A. (William Albert) Frisbie, Illustrated by Fred R. Bartholomew This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: The Pirate Frog and Other Tales Author: W. A. (William Albert) Frisbie Release Date: January 21, 2021 [eBook #64360] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIRATE FROG AND OTHER TALES*** E-text prepared by Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/piratefrogothert00fris Transcriber’s Note: The Library of Congress page images of this book (https://www.loc.gov/item/01023025/) appear to be out of order. The individual poems have been put back together for this e-book but as the pages aren’t numbered, without access to a physical copy it is not possible to tell whether the sequence of poems is in the right order. THE PIRATE FROG AND OTHER TALES Verse By W · A · FRISBIE Pictures By BART Authors of The Bandit Mouse Lettering and Color Plates BY FRED · R · BARTHOLOMEW Chicago and New York RAND, McNALLY & COMPANY Publishers A Fore Word: This book is no arithmetic To vex the mind of youth; Its pages may, perhaps, appear To be devoid of truth. But by these tales the young who learn To recognize a lie, To that extent will know the truth, And profit much thereby. Copyright, 1901, by Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago. This Book is dedicated to MAE HARRIS ANSON EDITOR OF THE MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL JUNIOR whose object is to amuse and educate children THE PIRATE FROG. Some boys whose names I do not know, Went out to sail their boat one day: Fast to her stern they tied a line So she could not sail far away But little did those boys suspect That, just beyond a floating log, With all his trusty followers, There lay in wait the Pirate Frog. On came the ship; out sprang the frogs— A desperate, determined crew. They climbed aboard with reckless speed And each one found his work to do. One cut the line, one raised the flag, The captain seized the helm to steer; And thus, on peaceful Plunkett’s Pond, Began the Pirate Frog’s career. Upon the shore of Plunkett’s Pond Three turtles basked beneath the sun; ’Twas afternoon, the spot was warm, And they were dozing every one. Their eyes were closed, they did not see Around the point a sail appear, Nor did they know, until too late, The dreaded Pirate Frog was near. The pirate crew made haste to land: They ran to where the turtles lay, Turned all three quickly on their backs, Then, hoisting sail, sped fast away. For hours the turtles strained and scratched To turn themselves, but all in vain, Till Mrs. Muskrat came that way And set them right side up again. As out of Turtle Bay he sailed, The Pirate Frog the waters scanned, And soon he steered his stolen ship To catch some ducklings far from land. Around the downy neck of one A lasso made of cord he cast, And, though the victim struggled hard, The cord was strong; the knot held fast. The other ducklings hurried home, When this unequal fight began: All breathlessly they told the news To Uncle Peter Pelican. He hurried out across the pond, And first he cut the duckling’s cord; Which gave the frightened pirates time To dive to safety overboard. Far up the shores of Plunkett’s Pond, Within a deep and marshy bay, Amid the rustling rushes green, The muskrats’ cozy village lay. Now, when the older rats were gone, The little ratlings had no fear; ’Twould have been different had they known The dreaded Pirate Frog was near. But soon the pirates’ flag was seen— The town was taken by surprise. One baby rat was caught and bound And dragged on ship despite his cries. But soon his bonds were gnawed apart And he for safety scaled the mast, His weight aloft o’erset the ship And he laughed best for he laughed last. ’Twas in July; the sun was hot, The pond was smooth, the air was still. The Pirate’s vessel lay becalmed Without a breeze the sail to fill; But soon a plan had been devised To move the ship without a sail: A diving frog took down a line And tied it ’round a bull-head’s tail. The big fish felt a gentle tug, Then saw the line and jumped with fright. He tried in vain to shake it off, And swam away with all his might. This way and that, at race-horse speed, He crossed the pond from side to side, But where he went the ship went, too, And all the frogs enjoyed the ride. For weeks the wicked Pirate Frog Had filled the water folk with fright; They hid themselves throughout the day, While few dared venture out at night. Had he not grown too rash and bold They might be living that way still; But his career closed when he tried To stop the busy water mill.