After the trick which Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy, played on the , making him believe a fire engine was after him, it was some time before or Bawly No-Tail, the frogs, went near that pond again, where the creature with the long tail lived, after he had escaped from the circus.  
“Because it isn’t safe to go near that water,” said Bawly.
 
“No, indeed,” agreed his brother. “Some day we’ll get a pump and pump all the water out of the pond, and that will make the alligator go away.”
 
Well, it was about a week after this that Grandpa Croaker, the old gentleman frog, put on his best dress. Oh, dear me! Just listen to that, would you! I mean he put on his best suit and started out, taking his gold-headed with him.
 
“Where are you going?” asked Mrs. No-Tail.
 
“Oh! I think I’ll go over and play a game of checkers with Uncle Wiggily Longears,” replied the old gentleman frog. “The last game we played he won, but I think I can win this time.”
 
“Well, whatever you do, Grandpa,” Bully, “please don’t go past the pond where the bad alligator is.”
 
“No, indeed, for he might bite you,” said Bawly, and their Grandpa promised that he would be careful.
 
Well, he went along through the woods, Grandpa Croaker did, and pretty soon, after a while, not so very long, he came to where Uncle Wiggily lived, with Sammie and Susie Littletail, and their papa and mamma and Miss Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, the nurse. But to-day only Uncle Wiggily was home alone, for every one else had gone to the circus.
 
So the old gentleman goat—I mean frog—and the old gentleman rabbit sat down and played a game of checkers. And after they had played one game they played another, and another still, for Uncle Wiggily won the first game, and Grandpa Croaker won the second, and they wanted to see who would win the third.
 
Well, they were playing away, moving the red and black round checkers back and on the red and black checker board, and they were talking about the weather, and whether there’d be any more rain, and all things like that, when, all of a sudden Uncle Wiggily heard a noise at the window.
 
“Hello! What’s that?” he cried, looking up.
 
“It sounded like some one breaking the glass,” answered Grandpa Croaker. “I hope it wasn’t Bawly and Bully playing ball.”
 
Then he looked up, and he saw the same thing that Uncle Wiggily saw, and the funny part of it was that Uncle Wiggily saw the same thing Grandpa Croaker saw. And what do you think this was?
 
Why it was that savage skillery, scalery alligator chap who had his ugly nose right in through the window, breaking the glass!
 
“Ha! What do you want here?” cried Uncle Wiggily, as he made his ears wave back and forth like palm leaf fans, and twinkled his nose like two stars on a frosty night.
 
“Yes, get right away from here, if you please!” said Grandpa Croaker in his deepest, , , , thunder-voice. “Get away, we want to play checkers.”
 
But he couldn’t scare the alligator that way, and the first thing he and Uncle Wiggily knew, that savage creature poked his nose still farther into the room.
 
“Oh, ho!” the alligator cried. “Checkers; eh? Now, do you know I am very fond of checkers?” And with that, what did he do but put out his long tongue, and with one sweep he licked up the red checkers and the black checkers and the red and black squared ............