The Riddle of the Sands Chapter 17Clearing the Air Free Teen Audiobooks Online Public Domain.
chapter 17 of the riddle of the sans this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org

recall

chapter 17 clearing the air

has he gone to get the police do you think said davis grimly i don't think so said i let's go aboard before that customs fellow button holds us a diminished row of stolid frisians still ruminated over the delta bella friend krim was visible smoking on his forecastle we went on board in silence first of all where exactly is mehmed i said davis pulled down the chart said there and flung himself at full length on her sofa

the reader can see memored for himself stars have used a butting on the m's delta lies an extensive sandbank called nordland whose extreme western rim remains uncovered at the highest tides the effect being to leave a c-shaped island a mere pairing of sand like a boomerang nearly two miles long but only 150 yards or so broad of curiously symmetrical outline except at one spot where it bulges to the widths of a quarter of a mile on the english chart its nakedness was absolute save for a beacon at the south but the german chart marked a building at the point where the bulge occurs this was evidently the depot fancy living there i thought for the very name struck cold no wonder grim was grim and no wonder he was used to seek change of air but the advantages of the site were obvious it was remarkably isolated even in a region where isolation is the rule yet it was conveniently near the wreck which as we had heard lay two miles out on the eusta reef lastly it was clearly accessible at any state of the tide for the 6000 channel of the m's estuary runs hard up to it on the south and thence sends off an eastwood branch which closely borders the southern horn thus offering an anchorage at once handy deep and sheltered from sea wood gales

such was mammoth as i saw it on the chart taking in its features mechanically for while davis lay there heedless and taciturn a pretense of interest was useless i knew perfectly well what was between us but i did not see why i should make the first move for i had a grievance too an old one so i sat back on my sofa and jotted down in my notebook the heads of our conversation at the inn while it was fresh on my memory and strove to draw conclusions but the silence continuing and becoming absurd i threw my pride to the winds and my notebook on the table i say davis i said i'm awfully sorry i chaffed you about following dolman no answer didn't you see i couldn't help it i wish to heaven we had never come in here he said in a hard voice it comes of landing ever i couldn't help smiling at this but he wasn't looking at me here we are given away moved on taken in charge arranged for like cook's tourists i couldn't follow your game too infernally deep for me but that stung me look here i said i did my best it was you that muddled it why did you hop on ducks we could have got out of that why did you hop on everything idiotic your letter the foreign office the comrade the wreck the you're utterly unreasonable didn't you see what traps there were i was driven the way i went we started unprepared and with jolly well out of it davis drove on blindly it was bad enough telling all about the channels and exploring why you agreed to that yourself i gave in to you we can't explore anymore now there's the wreck though oh hang the wreck it's all a blind or you wouldn't have made so much of it there are all these channels to be oh hang the channels i know we wanted a free hand but we've got to go to northern i sometime and if dolmen's away why did you hop on miss dolman said davis we had worked round through idle recrimination to the real point of departure i knew davis was not himself and would not return to himself till the heart of the matter...

The Riddle of the Sands Chapter 17Clearing the Air Free Teen Audiobooks Online Public Domain.
chapter 17 of the riddle of the sans this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org

recall

chapter 17 clearing the air

has he gone to get the police do you think said davis grimly i don't think so said i let's go aboard before that customs fellow button holds us a diminished row of stolid frisians still ruminated over the delta bella friend krim was visible smoking on his forecastle we went on board in silence first of all where exactly is mehmed i said davis pulled down the chart said there and flung himself at full length on her sofa

the reader can see memored for himself stars have used a butting on the m's delta lies an extensive sandbank called nordland whose extreme western rim remains uncovered at the highest tides the effect being to leave a c-shaped island a mere pairing of sand like a boomerang nearly two miles long but only 150 yards or so broad of curiously symmetrical outline except at one spot where it bulges to the widths of a quarter of a mile on the english chart its nakedness was absolute save for a beacon at the south but the german chart marked a building at the point where the bulge occurs this was evidently the depot fancy living there i thought for the very name struck cold no wonder grim was grim and no wonder he was used to seek change of air but the advantages of the site were obvious it was remarkably isolated even in a region where isolation is the rule yet it was conveniently near the wreck which as we had heard lay two miles out on the eusta reef lastly it was clearly accessible at any state of the tide for the 6000 channel of the m's estuary runs hard up to it on the south and thence sends off an eastwood branch which closely borders the southern horn thus offering an anchorage at once handy deep and sheltered from sea wood gales

such was mammoth as i saw it on the chart taking in its features mechanically for while davis lay there heedless and taciturn a pretense of interest was useless i knew perfectly well what was between us but i did not see why i should make the first move for i had a grievance too an old one so i sat back on my sofa and jotted down in my notebook the heads of our conversation at the inn while it was fresh on my memory and strove to draw conclusions but the silence continuing and becoming absurd i threw my pride to the winds and my notebook on the table i say davis i said i'm awfully sorry i chaffed you about following dolman no answer didn't you see i couldn't help it i wish to heaven we had never come in here he said in a hard voice it comes of landing ever i couldn't help smiling at this but he wasn't looking at me here we are given away moved on taken in charge arranged for like cook's tourists i couldn't follow your game too infernally deep for me but that stung me look here i said i did my best it was you that muddled it why did you hop on ducks we could have got out of that why did you hop on everything idiotic your letter the foreign office the comrade the wreck the you're utterly unreasonable didn't you see what traps there were i was driven the way i went we started unprepared and with jolly well out of it davis drove on blindly it was bad enough telling all about the channels and exploring why you agreed to that yourself i gave in to you we can't explore anymore now there's the wreck though oh hang the wreck it's all a blind or you wouldn't have made so much of it there are all these channels to be oh hang the channels i know we wanted a free hand but we've got to go to northern i sometime and if dolmen's away why did you hop on miss dolman said davis we had worked round through idle recrimination to the real point of departure i knew davis was not himself and would not return to himself till the heart of the matter...

The Riddle of the Sands Chapter 16 Commander Von Bruening Free Teen Audio Books Online.

chapter 16 of the riddle of the sounds this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by xena the riddle of the sands by asking childers chapter 16 commander von bruning to resume my story in narrative form i was awakened at 10 o'clock on the 19th after a long and delicious sleep by davis voice outside talking his unmistakable german looking out in my pajamas i saw him on the key above in conversation with the man in a long macintosh coat and a gold-laced navy cap he had a close-trimmed auburn beard a keen handsome face and an animated manner it was raining in a raw air they saw me and david said hello carruthers here's commander von bruning from the blitz that's minor freund carruthers davis was deplorably weak in terminations the commander smiled broadly at me and i inclined an uncombed head while for a moment the quest was a dream and i myself felt unutterably squalid and foolish i ducked down heard them parting and davis came aboard we to meet him at the inn for a talk at 12 he said his news was that the blitz's steam cutter had come in on the morning tide and he had met von burning when marketing at the inn secondly the komuran had also come in and was moored close by it was as clear as possible therefore that the latter had watched us and was in touch with the blitz and that both had seized the opportunity of our being cooped up in benzerzeel to take further stock of us what had passed hither too nothing much von bruning had greeted davis with cordial surprise and said he had wondered yesterday if it was the dulce bella that he had seen anchored behind langoog davies had explained that we had left the baltic and were on our way home taking the shelter of the islands supposing he comes on board and asks to see our log i said pull it out said davis it's rot this hiding after all i say i rather funk this interview what are we to say it's not in my line we resolved abruptly on an important change of plan replaced the log and charts in the rack as the first logical step they contained nothing but bearings courses and the bare data of navigation to davis they were hard-won secrets of vital import to be lied for however hard and distasteful lying was i was cooler as to their value but in any case the same thing was now in both our minds there would be great difficulties in the coming interview if we tried to be too clever and conceal the fact that we have been exploring we did not know how much von bruning knew when had our surveillance by the comuran begun apparently at vangerhook but possibly in the estuaries where we had not tired a shot at duck perhaps he knew even more deutman's treachery davis's escape and our subsequent movements we could not tell on the other hand exploration was known to be a fad of davises and in september he had made no secret of it it was safer to be consistent now after breakfast we determined to find out something about the komuran which lay on the mud at the other side of the harbour and accordingly addressed ourselves to two mighty sailors whose jerseys bore the legend post and who towered conspicuous among a row of stolid frisians on the key all gazing gravely down at us as at a curious bit of marine brickabrack the twins for such they proved to be were most benign giants and asked us aboard the postpartum galleon for a chat it was easy to bring the talk naturally around to the point we wished and we soon gained some most interesting information delivered in the broadest prison but intelligibly enough they called the comrade a mammoth boat or wreck-works boat it seemed that off the western end of houst the island lying west of nordenai there lay the bones of a french war vessel wrecked ages ago she carried bullion which has never been recovered in spite of many efforts a salvage company was...

The Riddle of the Sands Chapter 16 Commander Von Bruening Free Teen Audio Books Online.

chapter 16 of the riddle of the sounds this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by xena the riddle of the sands by asking childers chapter 16 commander von bruning to resume my story in narrative form i was awakened at 10 o'clock on the 19th after a long and delicious sleep by davis voice outside talking his unmistakable german looking out in my pajamas i saw him on the key above in conversation with the man in a long macintosh coat and a gold-laced navy cap he had a close-trimmed auburn beard a keen handsome face and an animated manner it was raining in a raw air they saw me and david said hello carruthers here's commander von bruning from the blitz that's minor freund carruthers davis was deplorably weak in terminations the commander smiled broadly at me and i inclined an uncombed head while for a moment the quest was a dream and i myself felt unutterably squalid and foolish i ducked down heard them parting and davis came aboard we to meet him at the inn for a talk at 12 he said his news was that the blitz's steam cutter had come in on the morning tide and he had met von burning when marketing at the inn secondly the komuran had also come in and was moored close by it was as clear as possible therefore that the latter had watched us and was in touch with the blitz and that both had seized the opportunity of our being cooped up in benzerzeel to take further stock of us what had passed hither too nothing much von bruning had greeted davis with cordial surprise and said he had wondered yesterday if it was the dulce bella that he had seen anchored behind langoog davies had explained that we had left the baltic and were on our way home taking the shelter of the islands supposing he comes on board and asks to see our log i said pull it out said davis it's rot this hiding after all i say i rather funk this interview what are we to say it's not in my line we resolved abruptly on an important change of plan replaced the log and charts in the rack as the first logical step they contained nothing but bearings courses and the bare data of navigation to davis they were hard-won secrets of vital import to be lied for however hard and distasteful lying was i was cooler as to their value but in any case the same thing was now in both our minds there would be great difficulties in the coming interview if we tried to be too clever and conceal the fact that we have been exploring we did not know how much von bruning knew when had our surveillance by the comuran begun apparently at vangerhook but possibly in the estuaries where we had not tired a shot at duck perhaps he knew even more deutman's treachery davis's escape and our subsequent movements we could not tell on the other hand exploration was known to be a fad of davises and in september he had made no secret of it it was safer to be consistent now after breakfast we determined to find out something about the komuran which lay on the mud at the other side of the harbour and accordingly addressed ourselves to two mighty sailors whose jerseys bore the legend post and who towered conspicuous among a row of stolid frisians on the key all gazing gravely down at us as at a curious bit of marine brickabrack the twins for such they proved to be were most benign giants and asked us aboard the postpartum galleon for a chat it was easy to bring the talk naturally around to the point we wished and we soon gained some most interesting information delivered in the broadest prison but intelligibly enough they called the comrade a mammoth boat or wreck-works boat it seemed that off the western end of houst the island lying west of nordenai there lay the bones of a french war vessel wrecked ages ago she carried bullion which has never been recovered in spite of many efforts a salvage company was...

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers Chapter 15 Bensersiel Free Teen Books Online.
chapter 15 of the riddle of the sans this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by gazina the riddle of the sands by asking childers chapter 15 benzer the decisive incidents of our crews were now fast approaching looking back on the steps that led to them and anxious that the reader should be wholly with us in our point of view i think i cannot do better than give extracts from my diary of the next three days

16th of october up at 6 30 you're tired and dry of the three gallons out at anchor in the channel yesterday only one is left i took my turn with the breakers this morning and walked to vangerog his village i found half lost in sand drifts which are planted with tufts of marine grass in mathematical rows to give stability and prevent a catastrophe like that at pompeii a friendly grocer told me all there is to know which is little the islands are what we sought them barren for the most part with a small fishing population and a scanty accession of summer visitors for bathing the season is over now and business slack for him there is still however a little trade with the mainland and gallets and lighters a few of which come from the zeals on the mainland had these harbours i asked mud holds he replied with a contemptuous laugh he is a settler in these wilds not a native said he had heard of schemes for improving them so as to develop the islands as health resorts but thought it was only a wild speculation

a heavy [ __ ] back to the yacht nearly crushed by impedimenta while davis made yet another trip i stalked some birds with a gun and obtained what resembled a specimen of the smallest variety of jack snipe and small at that but i made a great noise which i hope persuaded somebody of the purity of our motives

we wait anchored one o'clock and in passing the anchored galleon took a good look at her komoran was on her stand otherwise she was just like a hundred others nobody was on deck

we spent the whole afternoon till dark exploring the harle or gap between vangerook and spikerog the sea breaking heavily on the banks outside fine as the day was the scene from the offing was desolate to the last degree the naked spots of the two islands are hideous in their sterility melancholy bits of rec wood their only relief save for one or two grotesque beacons and most bizarre of all a great church tower standing actually in the water on the north side of vangerog a striking witness to the encroachment of the sea on the mainland which was barely visible there was one prominent landmark a spire which from the chart we took to be that of easons a town four miles inland the days are growing short sunset is soon after five and an hour later it is too dark to see booms and boys distinctly the tides also are awkward just now i exclude all the technicalities that i can but the reader should take note that the tide table is very important hence forward high water at morning and evening is between five and six just twilight for the night to be groped with the lead into the muscle bioga the tributary channel which laps around the inside of speaker and lay in two fathoms clear of the outer swell but rolling a little when the ebbs set in strong against the wind a galleot passed us going west just as we were stowing sails too dark to see her name later we saw her anchor light higher up our channel

the great event of the day has been the sighting of a small german gunboat steaming slowly west along the coast that was about half past four when we were sounding along the harlow

davis identified her at once as the blitz commander von bruning's gunboat we wondered if you recognized the delta bella but anyway she seemed to take no notice of us and steamed slowly on we quite expected to...

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers Chapter 15 Bensersiel Free Teen Books Online.
chapter 15 of the riddle of the sans this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by gazina the riddle of the sands by asking childers chapter 15 benzer the decisive incidents of our crews were now fast approaching looking back on the steps that led to them and anxious that the reader should be wholly with us in our point of view i think i cannot do better than give extracts from my diary of the next three days

16th of october up at 6 30 you're tired and dry of the three gallons out at anchor in the channel yesterday only one is left i took my turn with the breakers this morning and walked to vangerog his village i found half lost in sand drifts which are planted with tufts of marine grass in mathematical rows to give stability and prevent a catastrophe like that at pompeii a friendly grocer told me all there is to know which is little the islands are what we sought them barren for the most part with a small fishing population and a scanty accession of summer visitors for bathing the season is over now and business slack for him there is still however a little trade with the mainland and gallets and lighters a few of which come from the zeals on the mainland had these harbours i asked mud holds he replied with a contemptuous laugh he is a settler in these wilds not a native said he had heard of schemes for improving them so as to develop the islands as health resorts but thought it was only a wild speculation

a heavy [ __ ] back to the yacht nearly crushed by impedimenta while davis made yet another trip i stalked some birds with a gun and obtained what resembled a specimen of the smallest variety of jack snipe and small at that but i made a great noise which i hope persuaded somebody of the purity of our motives

we wait anchored one o'clock and in passing the anchored galleon took a good look at her komoran was on her stand otherwise she was just like a hundred others nobody was on deck

we spent the whole afternoon till dark exploring the harle or gap between vangerook and spikerog the sea breaking heavily on the banks outside fine as the day was the scene from the offing was desolate to the last degree the naked spots of the two islands are hideous in their sterility melancholy bits of rec wood their only relief save for one or two grotesque beacons and most bizarre of all a great church tower standing actually in the water on the north side of vangerog a striking witness to the encroachment of the sea on the mainland which was barely visible there was one prominent landmark a spire which from the chart we took to be that of easons a town four miles inland the days are growing short sunset is soon after five and an hour later it is too dark to see booms and boys distinctly the tides also are awkward just now i exclude all the technicalities that i can but the reader should take note that the tide table is very important hence forward high water at morning and evening is between five and six just twilight for the night to be groped with the lead into the muscle bioga the tributary channel which laps around the inside of speaker and lay in two fathoms clear of the outer swell but rolling a little when the ebbs set in strong against the wind a galleot passed us going west just as we were stowing sails too dark to see her name later we saw her anchor light higher up our channel

the great event of the day has been the sighting of a small german gunboat steaming slowly west along the coast that was about half past four when we were sounding along the harlow

davis identified her at once as the blitz commander von bruning's gunboat we wondered if you recognized the delta bella but anyway she seemed to take no notice of us and steamed slowly on we quite expected to...

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers Chapter 14 First Night in the Islands Free Teen Books.

chapter 14 of the riddle of the sans this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org

recording by gazinim the riddle of the sands by erskine childers chapter 14 the first night in the islands

a low line of sand hills pink and foreign in the setting sun at one end of them a little white village huddled round the base of a massive four square lighthouse such was vangerog the easternmost of the frisian islands as i saw it on the evening of 15th of october we had decided to make it our first landing place and since it possesses no harbour and is hedged by a mile of sand at low water we had run in on the rising tide till he got grounded in order to save ourselves as much labor as possible in the carriage to and fro of the heavy water breakers and oil cans which we had to replenish in faint outline three miles to the south of us was the flat plain of friesland broken only by some trees a windmill or two and a church spire between the shallow expanse of sea was already beginning to shrink away into lagoons chief among which was the narrow passage by which we had approached from the east this continued its course west directly parallel to the island and in it at a distance of half a mile from us three gallons lay at anchor

before supper was over the yacht was high and dry and when we had eaten davis loaded himself with cans and breakers i was for taking my share but he induced me to stay aboard for i was dead tired after an unusually long and trying day which had begun at 2 am when using a precious installment of east wind we had started on a complete passage of the sands from the elbow to the yarda it was a barely possible feat for a boat of our low speed to perform in only two tides and though we just succeeded it was only by dint of tireless vigilance and severe physical strain

lay out the anchor when you've had a smoke said davis and keep an eye on the riding light it's my only guide back he lowered himself and i heard the scrunch of his sea boots as he disappeared in the darkness it was a fine starry night with a touch of frost in the air i lit a cigar and stretched myself on a sofa close to the glow of the stove the cigar soon languished and dropped and i dozed uneasily for the riding light was on my mind i got up once and squinted at it through the half raised skylight saw it burning steadily and lay down again the cabin lamp wanted oil and was dying down to a red hot wick but i was too drowsy to attend to it and it went out i lit my cigar stump again and tried to keep awake by thinking it was the first time i and davis had been separated for so long yet so used to be grown to freedom from interference that this would not have disturbed me in the least were it not for a sudden presentment that on this first night of the second stage of our labors something would happen all at once i heard a sound outside a splashing footstep as of a man stepping in a puddle i was wide awake in an instant but never thought of shouting is that you davis for i knew in a flash that it was not he it was the slip of a stealthy man presently i heard another footstep the part of a boot on this hand this time close to my ear outside the hull then some more fainter and farther off i gently rose and peered off through the skylight a glimmer of light reflected from below was wavering over the mizen mast and bumpkin it had nothing to do with the riding light which hung on the fourth day my prowler i understood had struck a match and was reading the name on the stand how much farther would his curiosity carry him the match went out and the footsteps were audible again then a strong guttural voice called in german yet ahoy i kept silence ahoy a little louder this time a pause and then a vibration of the hull as...

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers Chapter 14 First Night in the Islands Free Teen Books.

chapter 14 of the riddle of the sans this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org

recording by gazinim the riddle of the sands by erskine childers chapter 14 the first night in the islands

a low line of sand hills pink and foreign in the setting sun at one end of them a little white village huddled round the base of a massive four square lighthouse such was vangerog the easternmost of the frisian islands as i saw it on the evening of 15th of october we had decided to make it our first landing place and since it possesses no harbour and is hedged by a mile of sand at low water we had run in on the rising tide till he got grounded in order to save ourselves as much labor as possible in the carriage to and fro of the heavy water breakers and oil cans which we had to replenish in faint outline three miles to the south of us was the flat plain of friesland broken only by some trees a windmill or two and a church spire between the shallow expanse of sea was already beginning to shrink away into lagoons chief among which was the narrow passage by which we had approached from the east this continued its course west directly parallel to the island and in it at a distance of half a mile from us three gallons lay at anchor

before supper was over the yacht was high and dry and when we had eaten davis loaded himself with cans and breakers i was for taking my share but he induced me to stay aboard for i was dead tired after an unusually long and trying day which had begun at 2 am when using a precious installment of east wind we had started on a complete passage of the sands from the elbow to the yarda it was a barely possible feat for a boat of our low speed to perform in only two tides and though we just succeeded it was only by dint of tireless vigilance and severe physical strain

lay out the anchor when you've had a smoke said davis and keep an eye on the riding light it's my only guide back he lowered himself and i heard the scrunch of his sea boots as he disappeared in the darkness it was a fine starry night with a touch of frost in the air i lit a cigar and stretched myself on a sofa close to the glow of the stove the cigar soon languished and dropped and i dozed uneasily for the riding light was on my mind i got up once and squinted at it through the half raised skylight saw it burning steadily and lay down again the cabin lamp wanted oil and was dying down to a red hot wick but i was too drowsy to attend to it and it went out i lit my cigar stump again and tried to keep awake by thinking it was the first time i and davis had been separated for so long yet so used to be grown to freedom from interference that this would not have disturbed me in the least were it not for a sudden presentment that on this first night of the second stage of our labors something would happen all at once i heard a sound outside a splashing footstep as of a man stepping in a puddle i was wide awake in an instant but never thought of shouting is that you davis for i knew in a flash that it was not he it was the slip of a stealthy man presently i heard another footstep the part of a boot on this hand this time close to my ear outside the hull then some more fainter and farther off i gently rose and peered off through the skylight a glimmer of light reflected from below was wavering over the mizen mast and bumpkin it had nothing to do with the riding light which hung on the fourth day my prowler i understood had struck a match and was reading the name on the stand how much farther would his curiosity carry him the match went out and the footsteps were audible again then a strong guttural voice called in german yet ahoy i kept silence ahoy a little louder this time a pause and then a vibration of the hull as...

The Patience of Grandfather Frog and Heron Free Kids Audiobook Children's Library Books.
chapter 4 of the adventures of grandfather frog this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by jill ingle the adventures of grandfather frog by thornton w burgess chapter 4 the patience of long legs the blue heron patience often wins the day when over haste has lost the way

if there is one virtue which long legs the heron possesses above another it is patience yes sir longlegs certainly has got patience he believes that if a thing is worth having it is worth waiting for and that if he waits long enough he is sure to get it perhaps that is because he has been a fisherman all his life and his father and his grandfather were fishermen you know a fisherman without patience rarely catches anything of course billy mink and little joe otter laugh at this and say that it isn't so but the truth is they sometimes go hungry but they wouldn't if they had a little of the patience of long legs now grandfather frog is another who is very very patient he can sit still the longest time waiting for something to come to him indeed he can sit perfectly still so long and long legs can stand perfectly still so long that jerry muskrat and billy mink and little joe otter have had many long disputes as to which of the two can keep still the longest he will make a splendid breakfast thought long legs has very very carefully he walked along the edge of the smiling pool so as to get right opposite grandfather frog there he stopped and looked very hard at grandfather frog yes he certainly must be asleep for his eyes were closed long legs chuckled to himself right down inside without making a sound and got ready to wade out so as to get within reach now all the time grandfather frog was doing some quiet chuckling himself you see he wasn't asleep at all he was just pretending to be asleep and all the time he was watching long legs out of a corner of one of his big goggly eyes very very slowly and carefully so as not to make the teeniest weeniest sound long legs lifted one foot to wade out into the smiling pool grandfather frog pretended to yawn and open his big goggly eyes long legs stood on one foot without moving so much as a feather grandfather frog yawned again nodded as if he were too sleepy to keep awake and half closed his eyes long legs waited and waited then little by little so slowly that if you had been there you would hardly have seen him move he drew his long neck down until his head rested on his shoulders i guess i must wait until he falls sound asleep again said long legs to himself but grandfather frog didn't go to sleep he would nod and nod and then just when longlegs would make up his mind that this time he really was asleep open would pop grandfather frog's eyes so all the long morning long legs stood on one foot without moving watching and waiting and growing hungrier and hungrier and all the long morning grandfather frog sat on his big green lily pad pretending that he was oh so sleepy and all the time having such a comfortable sunbath and rest for very early he had had a good breakfast of foolish green flies over in the bulrushes on the other side of a smiling pool two little scamps in brown bathing suits waited and watched for the great fright they had planned for grandfather frog when they had sent long legs to try to catch him they were billy mink and little joe otter at first they laughed to themselves and nudged each other at the thought of the trick they had played then as nothing happened they began to grow tired and uneasy you see they do not possess patience finally they gave up in disgust and stole a way to find some more exciting sport grandfather frog saw them go and chuckled harder than ever to himself end of chapter 4 recording by jill ingle

you

The Patience of Grandfather Frog and Heron Free Kids Audiobook Children's Library Books.
chapter 4 of the adventures of grandfather frog this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by jill ingle the adventures of grandfather frog by thornton w burgess chapter 4 the patience of long legs the blue heron patience often wins the day when over haste has lost the way

if there is one virtue which long legs the heron possesses above another it is patience yes sir longlegs certainly has got patience he believes that if a thing is worth having it is worth waiting for and that if he waits long enough he is sure to get it perhaps that is because he has been a fisherman all his life and his father and his grandfather were fishermen you know a fisherman without patience rarely catches anything of course billy mink and little joe otter laugh at this and say that it isn't so but the truth is they sometimes go hungry but they wouldn't if they had a little of the patience of long legs now grandfather frog is another who is very very patient he can sit still the longest time waiting for something to come to him indeed he can sit perfectly still so long and long legs can stand perfectly still so long that jerry muskrat and billy mink and little joe otter have had many long disputes as to which of the two can keep still the longest he will make a splendid breakfast thought long legs has very very carefully he walked along the edge of the smiling pool so as to get right opposite grandfather frog there he stopped and looked very hard at grandfather frog yes he certainly must be asleep for his eyes were closed long legs chuckled to himself right down inside without making a sound and got ready to wade out so as to get within reach now all the time grandfather frog was doing some quiet chuckling himself you see he wasn't asleep at all he was just pretending to be asleep and all the time he was watching long legs out of a corner of one of his big goggly eyes very very slowly and carefully so as not to make the teeniest weeniest sound long legs lifted one foot to wade out into the smiling pool grandfather frog pretended to yawn and open his big goggly eyes long legs stood on one foot without moving so much as a feather grandfather frog yawned again nodded as if he were too sleepy to keep awake and half closed his eyes long legs waited and waited then little by little so slowly that if you had been there you would hardly have seen him move he drew his long neck down until his head rested on his shoulders i guess i must wait until he falls sound asleep again said long legs to himself but grandfather frog didn't go to sleep he would nod and nod and then just when longlegs would make up his mind that this time he really was asleep open would pop grandfather frog's eyes so all the long morning long legs stood on one foot without moving watching and waiting and growing hungrier and hungrier and all the long morning grandfather frog sat on his big green lily pad pretending that he was oh so sleepy and all the time having such a comfortable sunbath and rest for very early he had had a good breakfast of foolish green flies over in the bulrushes on the other side of a smiling pool two little scamps in brown bathing suits waited and watched for the great fright they had planned for grandfather frog when they had sent long legs to try to catch him they were billy mink and little joe otter at first they laughed to themselves and nudged each other at the thought of the trick they had played then as nothing happened they began to grow tired and uneasy you see they do not possess patience finally they gave up in disgust and stole a way to find some more exciting sport grandfather frog saw them go and chuckled harder than ever to himself end of chapter 4 recording by jill ingle

you