It was such a splendid chance to tease him
that everybody around the Smiling Pool took advantage of it. Grandfather
Frog took it good-naturedly at first, but after a while it made him
cross, and by the time his cousin, old Mr. Toad, arrived, he was sulky
and just grunted when Mr. Toad told him how glad he was to find
Grandfather Frog quite recovered.
Old Mr. Toad pretended not to notice how out of sorts Grandfather Frog
was but kept right on talking.
"If you had been out in the Great World as much as I have been, you
would have known that Little Joe Otter wasn't giving you that fish for
nothing," said he.
Grandfather Frog swelled right out with anger. "Chugarum!" he exclaimed
in his deepest, gruffest voice. "Chugarum! Go back to your Great World
and learn to mind your own affairs, Mr. Toad."
Right away old Mr. Toad began to swell with anger too. For a whole
minute he glared at Grandfather Frog, so indignant he couldn't find his
tongue. When he did find it, he said some very unpleasant things, and
right away they began to dispute.
"What good are you to anybody but yourself, never seeing anything of the
Great World and not knowing anything about what is going on or what
other people are doing?" asked old Mr. Toad.
"I'm minding my own affairs and not meddling with things that don't
concern me, as seems to be the way out in the Great World you are so
fond of talking about," retorted Grandfather Frog.
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