A TOAD STORY | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 10, 1901

A TOAD STORY.

One day my father, sister, and I were out in the garden, watching a little toad.

My father took a little stick, and very, very gently scratched one side of the toad and then the other.

The toad seemed to like it, for he would roll from side to side and wink. I was so interested that when they went in, I took the stick, and did as my father had done. I thought, if he rolls from side to side as I touch him, what would he do if I ran the stick down his back?

I did so; and what do you think happened? His skin, which was thin and dirty, parted in a neat little seam. There was a bright, new coat below.

Then my quiet little toad showed how wise he was. He gently and carefully pulled off his outer skin. He took it off his body and legs first, and then, blinking it over his eyes, till—where had it gone?—He had rolled it into a ball and swallowed it.—Adapted from Our Dumb Animals.