In front of me, in the shallow water along shore, four more large
frogs were sunning themselves among the lily pads. I watched them
carelessly while waiting for the bear. After an hour or two I noticed
that three of these frogs changed their positions slightly, turning
from time to time so as to warm the entire body at nature's fireplace.
But the fourth was more deliberate and philosophical, thinking
evidently that if he simply sat still long enough the sun would do the
turning. When I came, about eleven o'clock, he was sitting on the
shore by a green stone, his fore feet lapped by tiny ripples, the sun
full on his back. For three hours, while I watched there, he never
moved a muscle. Then the bear came, and I left him for more exciting
things.
Late in the afternoon I came back to get some of the big frogs for
breakfast. Chigwooltz, he with the ear drums, was the first to see me,
and came pushing his way among the lily pads toward the canoe. But
when I dangled a red ibis fly in front of him, he dived promptly, and
I saw his head come up by a black root, where he sat, thinking himself
invisible, and watched me.
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