=Frog ran up the path to =Toad's house.
He knocked on the front door.
There was no answer.
"=Toad, =Toad," shouted =Frog, "wake up. It is spring!"
"Blah," said a voice from inside the house.
"=Toad, =Toad," cried =Frog!
"The sun is shining! The snow is melting. Wake up!"
"A am not here," said the voice.

=Frog walked into the house.
It was dark.
All the shutters were closed.
"=Toad, where are you," called Frog?
"Go away," said the voice from a corner of the room.
=Toad was lying in bed.

He had pulled all the covers over his head.
=Frog pushed =Toad out of bed.
He pushed him out of the house and onto the front porch.
=Toad blinked in the bright sun.
"Help," said Toad!
"I cannot see anything."

"Don't be silly," said =Frog.
"What you see is the clear warm light of April.
And it means that we can begin a whole new year together, =Toad.
Think of it," said Frog.
"We will skip through the meadows and run through the woods and swim in the river.
In the evenings we will sit right here on this front porch and count the stars."

"You can count them, =Frog," said =Toad.
"I will be too tired. I am going back to bed."

=Toad went back into the house.
He got into the be and pulled the covers over his head again.
"But, =Toad," cried =Frog, "you will miss all the fun!"
"Listen, =Frog," said =Toad.
"How long have I been asleep?"

"You have been asleep since November," said =Frog.
"Well then," said =Toad, "a little more sleep will not hurt me.
Come back again and wake me up at about half past May.
Good night, =Frog."

"But, =Toad," said =Frog,
"I will be lonely until then."
=Toad did not answer.
He had fallen asleep.
=Frog looked at =Toad's calendar.
The November page was still on top.
=Frog tore off the November page.

He tore off the December page.
And the January page, the February page, and the March page.
He came to the April page.
Frog tore off the April page too.

Then =Frog ran back to =Toad's bed.
"=Toad, =Toad, wake up. It is May now."
"What," said Toad?
"Can it be May so soon?"
"Yes," said =Frog.
"Look at your calendar."
=Toad looked at the calendar.
The May page was on top.

"Why, it is May," said Toad! as he climbed out of bed!
Then he and =Frog ran outside to see how the world was looking in the spring.



One day in summer =Frog was not feeling well.
=Toad said, "=Frog, you are looking quite green."
"But I always look green," said =Frog. "I am a frog."
"Today you look very green even for a frog," said =Toad.
"Get into my bed and rest."

=Toad made =Frog a cup of hot tea.
=Frog drank the tea, and then he said,
"Tell me a story while I am resting."

"All right," said =Toad.
"Let me think of a story to tell you."
=Toad thought and thought.
But he could not think of a story to tell =Frog.

"I will go out on the front porch and walk up and down," said =Toad.
"Perhaps that will help me to think of a story."
=Toad walked up and down on the porch for a long time.
But he could not think of a story to tell =Frog.

Then =Toad went into the house and stood on his head.
"Why are you standing on your head," asked Frog?
"I hope that if I stand on m head it will help me to think of a story," said =Toad.

=Toad stood on his head for a long time.
But he could not think of a story to tell =Frog.

Then =Toad poured a glass of water over his head.
"Why are you pouring water over your head," asked =Frog?
"I hope that if I pour water over my head, it will help me to think of a story," said =Toad.
=Toad poured many glasses of water over his head.
But he could not think of a story to tell =Frog.

Then =Toad began to bang his head against the wall.
"Why are you banging your head against the wall," asked =Frog.
"I hope that if I bang my head against the wall hard enough, it will help me to think of a story," said =Toad.

"I am feeling much better now, =Toad," said =Frog.
"I do not think I need a story anymore."
"Then you get out of bed and let me get into it," said =Toad,
"because now I feel terrible."
=Frog said, "Would you like me to tell you a story, =Toad?"
"Yes," said =Toad, " if you know one."

"Once upon a time," said =Frog, "there were two good friends, a frog and a toad.
The frog was not feeling well.
He asked his friend the toad to tell him a story.
The toad could not think of a story.
He walked up and down on the porch, but he could not think of a story.
He stood on his head, but he could not think of a story.
He poured water over his head, but he could not think of a story.

He banged his head against the wall, but he still could not think of a story.
Then the toad did not feel so well, and the frog was feeling better.
So the toad went to bed and the frog got up and told him a story.
The end.
How was that, =Toad", said =Frog?
But =Toad did not answer.
He had fallen asleep.



=Toad and =Frog went for a long walk.
They walked across a large meadow.
They walked in the woods.
They walked along the river.
At last they went back home to =Toad's house.
"Oh, drat," said =Toad.

"Not only to my feet hurt, but I have lost one of the buttons on my jacket."

"Don't worry," said =Frog.
"We will go back to all the places where we walked.
We will soon find your button."
They walked back to the large meadow.
They began to look for the button in the tall grass.

"Here is your button," cried =Frog!
"That is not my button," said =Toad.
"That button is black.
My button was white."
=Toad put the black button in his pocket.

A sparrow flew down.
"Excuse me," said the sparrow.
"Did you lose a button? I found one."
"That is not my button," said =Toad.
"That button has two holes.
My button has four holes."
=Toad put the button with two holes in his pocket.

They went back to the woods
and looked on the dark paths.
"Here is your button," said =Frog.
"That is not my button," cried =Toad.
"That button is small.
My button was big."
=Toad put the small button in his pocket.

A raccoon came out from behind a tree.
"I heard that you were looking for a button," he said.
"Here is one that I just found."
"That is not my button," wailed =Toad!
"That button is square.
My button was round."
=Toad put the square button in his pocket.

=Frog and =Toad went back to the river.
They looked for the button in the mud.
"Here is your button," said =Frog.
"That is not my button," shouted =Toad!
"That button is thin.
My button was thick."

=Toad put the thin button in his pocket.
He was very angry.
He jumped up and down and screamed,
"The whole world is covered with buttons,
and not one of them is mine!"

=Toad ran home and slammed the door.
There, on the floor, he saw his white,
four holed, big, round, thick button.
"Oh," said =Toad.
"It was here all the time.
What a lot of trouble I have made for =Frog."

=Toad took all of the buttons out of his pocket.
He took his sewing box down from the shelf.
=Toad sewed the buttons all over his jacket.

The next day =Toad gave his jacket to =Frog.
Frog thought that it was beautiful.
He put it on and jumped for joy.
None of the buttons fell off.
=Toad had sewed them on very well.



=Toad and =Frog went down to the river.
"What a day for a swim," said =Frog.
"Yes," said =Toad.
"I will go behind these rocks and put on my bathing suit."
"I don't wear a bathing suit," said =Frog.
"Well, I do," said =Toad.

"After I put on my bathing suit,
you must not look at me until I get into the water."
"Why not," asked =Frog?
"Because I look funny in my bathing suit.
That is why," said =Toad.
=Frog closed his eyes when =Toad came out from behind the rocks.
=Toad was wearing his bathing suit.
"Don't peek," he said.

=Frog and =Toad jumped into the water.
They swam all afternoon.
=Frog swam fast and made big splashes.
=Toad swam slowly and made smaller splashes.

A turtle came along the riverbank.
"=Frog, tell that turtle to go away," said =Toad.
"I do not want him to see me in my bathing suit
when I come out of the river."
=Frog swam over to the turtle.

"Turtle," said =Frog,
"you will have to go away."
"Why should I," asked the turtle?
"Because =Toad thinks that he
looks funny in his bathing suit,
and he does not want you to see him,"
said =Frog.

Some lizards were sitting nearby.
"Does =Toad really look funny in his bathing suit," they asked?
A snake crawled out of the grass.
"If =Toad looks funny in his bathing suit," said the snake,
"then I, for one, want to see him."

"We want to see him, too," said two dragonflies.
"Me, too," said a field mouse.
"I have not seen anything funny in a long time."

=Frog swam back to =Toad.
"I am sorry, =Toad," he said. "Everyone
wants to see how you will look."
"They I will stay right here until they go away," said =Toad.
The turtle and the lizards and the snake and the dragonflies
and the field mouse all sat on the riverbank.
They waited for =Toad to come out of the water.
"Please," cried =Frog, "please go away!"
But no one went away.

=Frog was getting colder and colder.
He was beginning to shiver and sneeze.
"I will have to come out of the water," said =Toad.
"I am catching a cold."

=Toad climbed out of the river.
The water dripped out of his bathing suit and down onto his feet.

The turtle laughed.
The lizards laughed.
The snake laughed.
The field mouse laughed,
and =Frog laughed.

"What are you laughing at, =Frog," said =Toad?
"I am laughing at you, =Toad," said =Frog,
"because you do look funny in your bathing suit."
"Of course I do," said =Toad.
Then he picked up his clothes and went home.



=Toad was sitting on his front porch.
=Frog came along and said,
"What is the matter, =Toad?
You are looking sad."

"Yes," said =Toad.
"This is my sad time of day.
It is the time
when I wait for the mail to come.
It always makes me unhappy."
"Why is that," asked =Frog?
"Because I never get any mail," said =Toad.

"Not ever," asked Frog?
"No, never," said =Toad.
"No one has ever sent me a letter.
Every day my mailbox is empty.
That is why waiting for the mail
is a sad time for me."
=Frog and =Toad sat on the porch feeling sad together.

Then =Frog said,
"I have to go home now, =Toad.
There is something I must do."
=Frog hurried home.
He found a pencil
and a piece of paper.
He wrote on the paper.

He put the paper in an envelope.
On the envelope he wrote
"A letter for =Toad."
=Frog ran out of his house.
He saw a snail that he knew.
"=Snail," said =Frog, "please take
this letter to =Toad's house and
put it in his mailbox."
"Sure," said the snail. "Right away."

Then =Frog ran back to =Toad's house.
=Toad was in bed, taking a nap.
"=Toad," said =Frog,
"I think you should get up
and wait for the mail some more."
"No," said =Toad,
"I am tired of waiting for the mail."

=Frog looked out of the window at =Toad's mailbox.
The snail was not there yet.
"=Toad," said =Frog, "you never know
when someone may send you a letter."
"No, no," said =Toad. "I do not think anyone will ever send me a letter.

=Frog looked out the window.
The snail was not there yet.
"But, =Toad," said =Frog,
"someone may send you a letter today."
"Don't be silly," said =Toad.
"No one has ever sent me a letter before,
and no one will send me a letter today."

=Frog looked out of the window.
The snail was still not there.
"Frog, why do you keep looking
out of the window," asked =Toad?
"Because now I am waiting for the mail," said =Frog.
"But there will not be any," said =Toad.

"Oh, yes there will," said =Frog,
"because I have sent you a letter."
"You have," said =Toad?
"What did you write in the letter?"
=Frog said, "I wrote
'Dear =Toad, I am glad that you are my best friend.
Your best friend, =Frog. ' "

"Oh," said =Toad,
"that makes a very good letter."
Then =Frog and =Toad went out
onto the front porch
to wait for the mail.
They sat there
feeling happy together.

=Frog and =Toad waited a long time.
Four days later
the snail got to =Toad's house
and gave him the letter from =Frog.
=Toad was very pleased to have it.