Page:Wind in the Willows (1913).djvu/306

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            "The clever men at Oxford
               Know all that there is to be knowed.
            But they none of them know one half as much
               As intelligent Mr. Toad!

            "The animals sat in the Ark and cried,
               Their tears in torrents flowed.
            Who was it said, 'There's land ahead?'
               Encouraging Mr. Toad!

            "The army all saluted
               As they marched along the road.
            Was it the King? Or Kitchener?
               No. It was Mr. Toad.

            "The Queen and her Ladies-in-waiting
               Sat at the window and sewed.
            She cried, 'Look! who's that handsome man?'
               They answered, 'Mr. Toad.'"


There was a great deal more of the same sort, but too dreadfully conceited to be written down. These are some of the milder verses.

He sang as he walked, and he walked as he sang, and got more inflated every minute. But his pride was shortly to have a severe fall.

After some miles of country lanes he reached the high road, and as he turned into it and glanced along its white length, he saw approach-