the frog said nothing, but it was said of him that he thought all the more: and directly the Yard Dog had smelt at him he was ready to assert that the Frog was of good family. the old councillor, who had received three medals for holding his tongue, declared that he knew that the Frog possessed the gift of prophecy : one could tell by his backbone whether there would be a severe winter or a mild one; and that's more than one can always tell from the backbone of the man who writes the almanac.