There’s some big bullfrogs in that pond all right and they were after them. They had a few folks that would pay a nickel a piece for them if they were big enough to have frog legs for dinner. They’d need about a dozen frogs for a good feed, and that was a lot of money for small boys.

They caught the frogs and delivered them in town to those who wanted them. They’d heft each frog finding the heaviest. If one were particularly big then the person buy’n would pay sometimes double for it.

This got Zachary and the Basseleti brothers to thinking on this particular day, why not make all the frogs heavier then they’d make twice the money. So Kenneth was elected to go back to town and get some buckshot from his dad’s shotgun shells. Away he went and the other two, uncle Zac and John Basseleti kept on crawl’n around in the toolies catch’n more frogs.

They had a good-sized sack full when Kenneth reappeared from town with a bag of birdshot cause he couldn’t find his pa’s shotgun shells and the man what called his’self Jim Smiley as well.

“ What for you do’n way out here Mr. Smiley?” asked Zachary surprised at him being there. Zac had heard lots of stories about ol’ Smiley be’n sorta slick like, and he was also known as Rev. Leonides W. Smiley as well and uncle Zac didn’t trust him. He wore a big black plug hat and had a thick black mustache that twitched as he talked and Smiley liked to talk a lot.

“Noth’n a’tall” Smiley answered, “ just met good ol Kenneth here on his way through town and we had us a nice talk about frogs and sech.” Zac looked over at Kenneth who had a puzzled look on his face and shrugged.

Smiley went on, “Well, to tell you the truth lads, I came out here look’n for frogs myself. Me an this feller whut jest came to town is gonna bet on frogs a jumpin. He ain’t got one and I got ol’ Dan’l whut kin out jump any frog in two counties so we’re gonna have us a contest; an’ I told him I’d ketch him one. Kenneth here says you got a sack full of em you’re gonna sell, so kin I buy one of em off you?”

“Well,” Zac says “fer twenty-five cents you kin. These frogs here are very big and powerful frogs you see. Any one of em kin leap straight out into the middle of the street in one jump.” His eyes sparkled and danced as he dug into the sack for one of the largest ones. He’d heard what Smiley had said about ol’ Dan’l’s abilities but he didn’t believe it a-tall.

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