As Maud said one
day, they would have been perfectly happy had it not been for the
frogs.
These animals were a very great nuisance. They literally swarmed.
Do what they would, the Hardys could not get rid of them. If they
would but have kept out of the house, no one would have minded
them; indeed, as they destroyed a good many insects, they would
have been welcome visitors in the garden; but this was just what
they would not do. The door always stood open, and they evidently
considered that as an invitation to walk in. There they would hide
behind boxes, or get under beds, and into water-jugs and baths,
and, in fact, into every possible corner, They would even get into
boots; and these had always to be shaken before being put on, in
case frogs or insects should have taken up their abode there.
It used at first to be quite a matter of difficulty to know what to
do with the frogs after they were caught; but after a time a
covered basket was kept outside the door, and into this the frogs
were popped, and taken once a day and emptied into the stream. At
first they had got into the well, and had proved a great nuisance;
and they were only got rid of by nearly emptying the well out with
buckets, and by then building a wall round its mouth, with a
tightly-fitting lid.
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