It happened that the dinner hour was changed,
and when the toad came there was nothing for him to eat. Mr. Toad made
up his mind that he would not lose his dinner twice. On the second day
he came at the new hour, and after this he was as punctual as the rest
of the family. No one could tell how he knew that in the future his
dinner would be served two hours earlier.
The toad is often the victim of thoughtless cruelty. He can do no one
any harm. He cannot even run away when he is stoned and tormented. The
fun of teasing him must be like that of beating a baby or a helpless
cripple. No one but a coward could ever think it an amusing thing to do.
Perhaps no animal is so misunderstood as the bat. He seems such a queer
compound of mouse and bird, and to most of us he is such a stranger,
that we do not have a very friendly feeling for him.
Of course you know that he is not a bird at all. Birds have feathers and
the bat has soft, smooth fur. He is absolutely harmless, unless
frightened or hurt, and he is a very useful little fellow. He eats
mosquitoes and house-flies and the insects that cause most of the worm-
eaten apples.
Bats fly only at night. They soon become friendly with any one who is
kind to them, and will come to be fed or stroked.
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