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THE TALE OF
KIDDIE KATYDID
TUCK-ME-IN TALES
(Trademark Registered)
BY
ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
AUTHOR OF
SLEEPY-TIME TALES
(Trademark Registered)
* * * * *
THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN
THE TALE OF OLD MR. CROW
THE TALE OF SOLOMON OWL
THE TALE OF JASPER JAY
THE TALE OF RUSTY WREN
THE TALE OF DADDY LONG-LEGS
THE TALE OF KIDDIE KATYDID
THE TALE OF BUSTER BUMBLEBEE
THE TALE OF FREDDIE FIREFLY
THE TALE OF BETSY BUTTERFLY
[Illustration: Kiddie Sees Benjamin Bat in Front of the Moon
_Frontispiece_--(_Page 71_)]
TUCK-ME-IN TALES
(Trademark Registered)
THE TALE OF KIDDIE KATYDID
BY
ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
Author of
"SLEEPY-TIME TALES"
(Trademark Registered)
ILLUSTRATED BY
HARRY L. SMITH
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
Made in the United States of America
Copyright, 1918, by
GROSSET & DUNLAP
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. A GREAT SECRET 1
II. THE WARNING 6
III. MR. NIGHTHAWK 10
IV. A WHINING CALLER 15
V. SOLOMON OWL'S CRY 20
VI. FREDDIE FIREFLY'S DISCOVERY 26
VII. FREDDIE WANTS TO TELL 31
VIII. SPREADING THE NEWS 36
IX. MR. FROG IS PLEASED 40
X. A PAIR OF RASCALS 45
XI. A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER 51
XII. A PRESENT FOR KIDDIE 55
XIII. KIDDIE KATYDID IS SHY 60
XIV. KIDDIE KEEPS HIS PROMISE 65
XV. BENJAMIN BAT'S PLAN 70
XVI. A NOISY CROWD 75
XVII. KITTY DID! 79
XVIII. THE TWO GRASSHOPPERS 85
XIX. A QUARREL 89
XX. THE STRANGER'S MESSAGE 94
XXI. LEAPER THE LOCUST IS WORRIED 99
XXII. THE SHORT-HORNS ARRIVE 104
XXIII. THE BEST OF FRIENDS 110
ILLUSTRATIONS
KIDDIE SEES BENJAMIN BAT IN FRONT OF THE MOON _Frontispiece_
PAGE
KIDDIE'S SECRET IS DISCOVERED BY FREDDIE FIREFLY 28
KIDDIE TOOK HIS NEW COAT FROM THE TWIG 59
KIDDIE FACED LEAPER THE LOCUST 90
THE TALE OF
KIDDIE KATYDID
I
A GREAT SECRET
Whoever Katy was, and whatever she might have done, nobody in Pleasant
Valley knew anything about her except Kiddie Katydid and his numerous
and noisy family.
To be sure, many of the wild folk--and the people in the farmhouse,
too--remembered hearing her name mentioned the year before.
But they had quite forgotten about her, until August came and Kiddie
Katydid and his relations brought her to their minds once more.
Each night the Katydids' rasping chant was repeated again and again:
_Katy did, Katy did; she did, she did!_ But since in any crowd there are
always a few that want to be different from the rest, now and then some
member of Kiddie's clan insisted that Katy didn't--somewhat in this
fashion: _Katy did, Katy did; she did, she didn't!_
However, there were always so many others to drown any such puzzling
statement with their shrill clamor that Katy really _did_ do it
(whatever it was!) that nobody paid much attention to those few who
didn't quite agree.
On warm, dry, midsummer nights the Katydids all made a terrific racket.
But there wasn't one of them that outdid Kiddie. He always had the best
time when he was making the most noise. And since he liked to station
himself in a tree near Farmer Green's house, his uproar often rose
plainly above that of the other Katydids.
Lying in bed in his little room under the eaves, Johnnie Green sometimes
wished that Kiddie would keep quiet long enough to let him go to sleep
in peace.
To be sure, the balmy breezes wafted many other night sounds through
Johnnie's open window. From near-by came Chirpy Cricket's cheerful
piping. And in the distant swamp the musical Frog family held a singing
party every evening. Johnnie Green liked to hear them. But he objected
strongly to the weird hooting and horrid laughter of Solomon Owl, who
left the hemlock woods after dark to hunt for field mice.
As for Kiddie Katydid, he paid little attention to any other of the
night cries. No matter what anybody else said, he solemnly hurled back
at him that neverending refrain, _Katy did, Katy did; she did, she did!_
You would have thought, if you had heard Kiddie, that somebody had
disputed his statement. But such was not the case at all. Since no one
except the Katydids knew anything about the mysterious Katy, nobody was
able to say truthfully that she _didn't_ do it. In fact, the whole
affair was a great secret, so far as outsiders were concerned. And one
night Johnnie Green even thrust his head out of the window and cried
impatiently:
"All right! All right! I admit that Katy did it. And now do please keep
still!"
Of course, his plea failed to silence Kiddie Katydid. But it relieved
Johnnie Green's mind and made him feel better, anyhow.
Kiddie told his own people about Johnnie's outburst. And they all agreed
that it was a rude thing to do.
"Doesn't he know," they asked, "that the night belongs to us?"
II
THE WARNING
It must not be supposed that all of Kiddie Katydid's family made the
same neverending din at night. Actually it was only the gentlemen that
so amused themselves. No doubt the ladies, too, knew the secret about
the mysterious Katy--and what she did.
But for some reason they never, never mentioned the matter. Even when
they gossiped among themselves, as they sometimes did, they never
touched upon that subject.
Furthermore, in the daytime Kiddie and his fellows were as quiet as they
could be. Having waked the echoes all night long, they were content,
when morning came, to rest silently among the trees and shrubs. And a
very good reason did they have, too, for such a habit. During the day
there were altogether too many birds flying about, to please the
Katydids. And Kiddie often remarked in a joking way that the only birds
he cared about were those that _didn't care about him_!
Of course, there were a few birds that prowled about Pleasant Valley
after dark. Mr. Nighthawk was one of that crew of nightly wanderers. And
whenever the word was passed around that he had been seen in the
neighborhood, Kiddie Katydid tried to lower his solemn chant, because he
knew that Mr. Nighthawk was usually in search of something to eat.
Now, when Kiddie Katydid felt hungry he drove away his gnawing pangs by
browsing upon leaves and tender twigs. But Mr. Nighthawk had no taste
for such fodder.
He had an appetite for insects. And between dusk and dawn a good many of
Kiddie Katydid's neighbors of one kind or another found their way into
Mr. Nighthawk's tummy.
So you see it was no wonder that Kiddie was not eager to attract the
attention of that night rover. Some of the more timid of Kiddie's
companions even begged him, at times, to hush. They said he was making
such a noise that Mr. Nighthawk would be sure to hear it, even if he
were a quarter of a mile away.
But Kiddie Katydid usually laughed at those faint-hearted ones; and
often he shrilled his _Katy did, Katy did_, more loudly than before,
just to show them that he was not afraid.
"A person has to take a few chances," he remarked one day. "If we were
all afraid to make a sound it would be pretty hard on Katy, for then she
would have nobody to take her part. And what would people think of her?"
Evidently Kiddie's reason was a good one, because a number of his
cousins spoke up at once and said that they agreed with him perfectly.
But their sisters all exclaimed that sooner or later Mr. Nighthawk would
hear them; and then there would certainly be trouble.
Strangely enough, the words were scarcely out of their mouths before
they heard a loud call that struck them cold with fear.
_Peent! Peent!_ The cry came out of the air above them without the least
warning. And everybody--including Kiddie Katydid--knew that Mr.
Nighthawk had come.
III
MR. NIGHTHAWK
Following his cry with two or three quick beats of his wings, Mr.
Nighthawk dropped swiftly down among the trees in Farmer Green's
dooryard.
He fell so fast that Kiddie Katydid, watching from his hiding-place in
one of the maples, couldn't help hoping that the sky-coaster would be
unable to stop himself in time to escape being dashed upon the ground.
But Mr. Nighthawk was very skillful at that sport. Just at the right
moment he turned quickly, while the air rushed through his wing-feathers
with a roaring sound. And then he mounted upward again.
Meanwhile Kiddie Katydid kept very still among the leaves, with his
wings folded over his back. Only his two long, thread-like feelers
_would_ wave backwards and forwards, although he tried to keep them
still. He was so nearly the color of the green of the tree-top that he
trusted Mr. Nighthawk wouldn't be able to spy him.
But he was soon disappointed. For Mr. Nighthawk suddenly cried, "Ha!"
and alighted on a neighboring limb.
"There you are!" he said. "You needn't think I don't see you!"
"Why, good evening!" Kiddie Katydid answered, since he was
discovered--and there was no use denying it. "It's a great
surprise--meeting you so unexpectedly. If you'd only sent word that you
were coming I'd have made different arrangements."
"I've no doubt you would have!" Mr. Nighthawk sneered. "But I like to
take people unawares.... I've heard about you," he added. "They say that
you're a great jumper--the spriest jumper in all Pleasant Valley."
"Well, I can jump fairly well," Kiddie Katydid admitted. "But I don't
pride myself on my jumping. It's something that has always run in my
family, you know. All of us Katydids can leap quite a distance without
any trouble."
"So I understand!" Mr. Nighthawk replied. "And I'll tell you some news
that ought to please you: I've come here to-night for the special
purpose of seeing you jump!"
Kiddie Katydid almost jumped out of his skin when he heard what Mr.
Nighthawk said. And it wouldn't have been anything remarkable for him
if he had. He had already squirmed out of his skin six times that
summer--though not from fear, of course. Casting his skin was almost a
habit with Kiddie. All his family were like that.
Though he was not nearly so old as Mr. Nighthawk, Kiddie Katydid had
learned a thing or two during his brief lifetime. And though he would
have liked very much to jump--and jump out of Mr. Nighthawk's sight,
too--he had no wish to hide himself _inside_ that feathered scoundrel.
So he clung all the tighter to his perch and replied that he didn't
believe he cared to do any jumping that night.
Now, Mr. Nighthawk had a certain odd trick of talking through his nose.
Whether that was because the late hours he kept, even on dark nights,
gave him a cold in his head, nobody seemed to know. Anyhow, he began
teasing Kiddie Katydid to jump for him--and he talked through his nose
more than ever. Yes! although Mr. Nighthawk tried his best to speak
pleasantly, he only succeeded in making Kiddie Katydid want to laugh at
him, for all Kiddie was so uneasy.
IV
A WHINING CALLER
"I certainly hope you aren't going to disappoint me?" Mr. Nighthawk
whined, as he looked hungrily at Kiddie Katydid. "Please, please jump
for me--just once!" he begged. "Here I've come all the way across the
meadow on purpose to see what a fine jumper you are! And I shall feel
very unhappy if you don't perform for me."
But Kiddie Katydid refused to budge.
"I hadn't intended to do any leaping to-night," he told Mr. Nighthawk.
"And if I jumped for you, it would only upset my plans."
"I know--I know," said Mr. Nighthawk, nodding his head. "But I thought
that just to oblige a friend you wouldn't object to jumping from this
tree into that one." And he pointed to the nearest maple, the branches
of which all but touched the tree-top in which they were sitting. But
Kiddie Katydid's mind was made up.
"No jumping for me to-night!" he piped in a shrill voice.
All this time Mr. Nighthawk was growing hungrier than ever. And one
might well wonder why he didn't make one quick spring at Kiddie Katydid
and swallow him. But that was not Mr. Nighthawk's way of dining.
"Well," he said at last, "though you refuse to jump for me, won't you
kindly call some other member of your family and ask him to oblige me?"
"I don't know where my relations are just now," replied Kiddie Katydid.
"Some of them were here a while ago; but they went away." And that was
quite true! At that _peent_--that first warning cry--of Mr. Nighthawk's,
they had all vanished as if by magic, among the leaves.
"What about that Katy you're always talking about?" Mr. Nighthawk then
inquired. "Don't you suppose you could find _her_ and persuade _her_ to
do a little jumping for me--just to show me how it's done?"
"I'm sorry--" Kiddie said somewhat stiffly, "I'm sorry; but I must
absolutely refuse to do such a thing. Now that you've mentioned her,
I'll simply say _Katy did_. And beyond that I cannot discuss her with
you."
"She did what?" Mr. Nighthawk wanted to know--through his nose.
But Kiddie Katydid declined to answer that question. He merely hugged
his wings closer to his green body, and shot a sly glance at Mr.
Nighthawk, as if to say, "Ah! That's for _you_ to find out! But I shan't
tell you!"
Mr. Nighthawk looked rather foolish. He had always supposed that any one
who spent a good part of every night saying the same thing over and over
and over again must be quite dull-witted. But now he began to think that
perhaps Kiddie Katydid was brighter than the field people generally
believed him to be. And when Kiddie suddenly asked _him_ a question, he
was sure of his mistake.
"Did you know," said Kiddie, "that Solomon Owl often visits these farm
buildings?"
"Why, no! I wasn't aware of that," Mr. Nighthawk replied with a quick,
nervous look behind him. "What brings him here?"
"Chickens!" Kiddie Katydid explained. "Solomon Owl is very fond of
chickens. But they do say that he's not above eating a nighthawk when he
happens to stumble upon one."
V
SOLOMON OWL'S CRY
For a few moments Mr. Nighthawk fidgeted about on his branch of the
maple tree. What Kiddie Katydid said to him about Solomon Owl frightened
him. And he almost wished he hadn't come to Farmer Green's dooryard that
night.
But the more he thought about the matter, the less he was inclined to
believe that there was really any danger. And soon he peered at Kiddie
Katydid through the darkness and said:
"You almost fooled me. But I know now what you were trying to do. You
were trying to scare me away from here!"
"_Katy did, Katy did; she did, she did!_"
"You needn't say that!" Mr. Nighthawk exclaimed. "Katy has nothing to do
with my case. She hasn't even mentioned Solomon Owl's name."
"You don't understand," Kiddie told him. "I'm speaking of an entirely
different matter."
And then Mr. Nighthawk had another idea. He chased the frown away from
his face and smiled very pleasantly.
"I'm sorry that you don't feel like jumping for me," he observed. "But
I'd be just as glad to see you fly! I remember being told that you fly
almost as well as you jump."
"Oh, I can't begin to fly as well as you can," Kiddie Katydid told Mr.
Nighthawk. "I only wish I knew how to coast down out of the sky the way
you do, without being dashed upon the ground.... How do you manage to
stop so suddenly?"
"Pooh! That's nothing!" Mr. Nighthawk said. "It's easy, once you know
how."
In spite of his way of belittling his flying feats, Mr. Nighthawk was
secretly very proud of his skill at sky-coasting. And when Kiddie
Katydid asked him if he wouldn't kindly give an exhibition of the art of
fancy flying, Mr. Nighthawk couldn't help feeling pleased.
He wanted to display his skill. But there was just one thing that
troubled him. He was afraid that if he climbed up into the sky, before
he dropped down again Kiddie Katydid would have vanished. And that
didn't suit Mr. Nighthawk's plans.
"Will you promise to stay right where you are until I come back?" he
asked.
Now, Kiddie Katydid had intended to hide himself as soon as Mr.
Nighthawk should leave him. But there was nothing he could do now except
to agree to Mr. Nighthawk's proposal.
"I'll promise," said Kiddie, "if you'll promise me that you'll surely
return. Otherwise I might have to stay here for a month, perhaps,
waiting for you."
"Oh! I'll come back in a minute or two," Mr. Nighthawk laughed, as he
looked hungrily at Kiddie. "Don't you worry about my not coming back to
talk with you!"
Then he began climbing upwards into the sky. And he had gone about as
high as he wished to, when all at once a rolling _Whoo-whoo-whoo_,
_whoo-whoo_, _to-whoo-ah_ startled him. It was Solomon Owl's weird call.
And it drove every thought except one out of Mr. Nighthawk's head. That
one idea--to escape--filled his mind completely. And he turned and
hurried away from Farmer Green's place as fast as he could go; for Mr.
Nighthawk feared that Solomon Owl would arrive there at any moment.
As for Kiddie Katydid, when he heard Solomon's cry he knew at once that
he was rid of Mr. Nighthawk. And Kiddie's _Katy did, Katy did; she did,
she did_ rang out again and again in the night. All his friends and
cousins crept out of their hiding-places and joined in the chorus. And
everybody enjoyed a good laugh over Mr. Nighthawk's visit--and his
sudden departure.
Perhaps Kiddie may be forgiven for boasting the least bit, as his
companions crowded around him.
"I knew better than to jump for Mr. Nighthawk!" he cried. "I happened
to know that he always wants to catch his food _on the wing_. And if I
had jumped, or tried to fly away, he would have snatched me right out of
the air as quick as lightning."
VI
FREDDIE FIREFLY'S DISCOVERY
That secret about Katy, and what she did, was not the only one that
Kiddie hid from the field people. He had another--something about
himself--that nobody ever suspected, until Freddie Firefly stumbled upon
it one night.
Probably Freddie would never have learned this second secret had he not
been trying to find out about the first one. Over in the meadow he had
heard Kiddie Katydid shrilling his well-worn ditty, _Katy did; she did,
she did!_ And he had danced his way into Farmer Green's dooryard because
he wanted to have a talk with Kiddie and ask him some questions about
that unknown lady.
Like all others who tried to pry into the mystery, Freddie Firefly had
no luck at all. For Kiddie Katydid made no reply to his inquiries.
Kiddie merely smiled in a most annoying fashion and kept on repeating
the refrain.
"Doesn't your voice ever get tired, singing those silly words over and
over again all night long?" Freddie Firefly finally asked.
"Oh! no, indeed!" said Kiddie Katydid. "On the contrary it rests my
voice to do this." And he solemnly shrilled the chorus more rapidly than
ever.
"There's something queer about that cry of yours!" Freddie Firefly
suddenly exclaimed. "I'm watching you closely; but I can't see that your
mouth moves the least bit."
Again Kiddie Katydid smiled. He saw that Freddie Firefly was puzzled.
"Why do you keep moving your wings when you say _Katy did_?" Freddie
Firefly asked him at last.
But Kiddie refused to answer that question--a fact which at once made
Freddie suspicious. He moved nearer Kiddie Katydid and flashed his light
upon him every time Kiddie repeated his odd statement about Katy. And
soon Freddie Firefly grew much excited. He actually danced up and down,
he was so astonished.
"I've found you out!" he cried in a loud voice. "It's no wonder your
voice doesn't get tired from that song! For you don't really _sing_ it
at all! You make that queer _sound by rubbing your wing covers
together_!"
Kiddie Katydid abruptly ceased his shrilling. He looked most
uncomfortable. And it was not surprising. He had not supposed that
Freddie Firefly--or anybody else--would be shrewd enough to discover
that secret. It was a family secret--one that had been closely guarded
by the Katydids since the beginning of time, almost. And here he had
gone and let Freddie Firefly find it out!
"I'm right about that and you can't deny it!" cried Freddie Firefly
boldly. "You may as well admit that what I say is true," he added.
"I certainly won't dispute you," Kiddie Katydid replied. "I have too
good manners to do anything so rude as that."
"I don't care about your manners," Freddie answered. "I dare say they're
good enough, although some people think it's rather rude of you to make
so much noise when a good many others are trying to sleep."
"I should like to know who objects to my music?" Kiddie Katydid
exclaimed hotly. "If Farmer Green has been talking to you, I should like
to state that he had better be careful. Anyone who drives a clattering
mowing-machine around, when a lot of us are trying to get our rest in
the daytime, ought not to complain about a little _music_ on a pleasant
night like this."
[Illustration: Kiddie's Secret is Discovered by Freddie Firefly
(_Page 28_)]
VII
FREDDIE WANTS TO TELL
As soon as Kiddie Katydid mentioned the word _music_, Freddie Firefly
began to dance and shout.
"There!" he cried. "You've just the same as told me that I was right. If
you _sang_ your _Katy did, Katy did; she did, she did_, you would call
it _singing_. But since you make that ditty by rubbing your wing covers
together, it is _music_. And you just referred to it as such!"
Well, Kiddie Katydid couldn't say a single word. Freddie Firefly was
right. They both knew it. And the secret was hopelessly "out." In fact,
it was a secret no longer--unless Kiddie Katydid could persuade Freddie
Firefly to keep the news to himself.
"You won't say anything about this little matter, I hope," Kiddie began.
"Won't I?" said Freddie Firefly. "Why, I just couldn't help telling
people what I've learned! It's the biggest bit of news that I've known
since I've lived in Pleasant Valley. And I must get word of it to old
Mr. Crow somehow."
"Why Mr. Crow?" Kiddie Katydid inquired anxiously. He knew that the old
gentleman was a great gossip. "You might as well put this in a newspaper
as tell Mr. Crow about it."
"Ah! That's just the point!" cried Freddie. "Mr. Crow _is_ a newspaper.
Perhaps you didn't know it; but every Saturday he flies over Blue
Mountain to the pond where Brownie Beaver lives and tells Brownie all
the news of the past week."
"Then for pity's sake, don't let _him_ hear of this!" Kiddie begged.
But nothing could have stopped Freddie Firefly.
"You're too modest," he said. "It's a shame to be able to make music the
way you do and not let the neighbors know it. Why, the first thing you
know you'll be one of the most famous people in this whole valley."
"But I don't want to be!" Kiddie Katydid cried. "I'm not like you. You
go dancing about every night, flashing your light so everyone can see
you. But I stay among the trees and shrubs. And I even wear a green
suit--which matches the color of the leaves--so people won't notice me.
Of course," Kiddie added, "I don't mind if the public hears my music.
But I don't care to be seen, as a rule. And I don't like callers a
bit!"
"You don't, eh?" remarked Freddie Firefly. "Then it's time for me to be
moving along. For I never stay where I'm not welcome." And he flitted
away, feeling somewhat peevish--and all the more determined to get the
news of the discovered secret to Mr. Crow at the earliest possible
moment.
How he was going to do that he didn't quite know.
There was little chance of his seeing Mr. Crow, for the old gentleman
only waked up at the time Freddie Firefly was ready to go to bed--about
dawn.
He was pondering over his difficulty, which bothered him not a little,
when a terrific croaking from the direction of the swamp reached his
ears. It was the final chorus of the Frog family's nightly singing
party. And it promptly put an idea into Freddie Firefly's head.
"I'll hurry right over there and speak to Mr. Frog, the well-known
tailor," he said to himself. "He knows old Mr. Crow. He sees him almost
every day. And he'll be glad to give the old gentleman a message."
VIII
SPREADING THE NEWS
When Freddie Firefly reached the swamp he found that the singing party
had already broken up. But luckily, Mr. Frog the tailor was the last one
to leave. He was still poised on the bank of the sluggish stream, ready
to plunge into the water and swim away, when Freddie Firefly dropped
down upon a cat-tail and called him by name, flashing his light
frantically so that Mr. Frog would be sure to notice him.
"Wait a moment!" cried Freddie. "I've something to say to you!"
"Out with it, then!" said Mr. Frog. "My time is valuable, you know. I
ought to be back in my shop this moment; for I promised Paddy Muskrat
I'd make him a policeman's uniform by to-morrow morning. And I haven't
begun it yet."
"Why not?" asked Freddie, forgetting--for the moment--his own errand.
"He wants brass buttons," explained the tailor. "And I couldn't get any
until to-night."
"But couldn't you go ahead without them?" Freddie Firefly inquired.
"Certainly not!" replied Mr. Frog. "I see you don't know much about
making a policeman's suit. You start by laying the buttons in a row on
the ground; and then you sew the cloth onto them.... That's my own
invention--that method," he added with an air of pride. "And now, what
was it you wanted to say to me?"
"I don't believe there's any use of my telling you, after all," Freddie
Firefly replied. "You're going to be so busy that you won't have time
to do an errand for me. I wanted you to give Mr. Crow a message."
"Yes--I'll be altogether too rushed to bother with it," said Mr. Frog.
"I expect to be on the jump all night--and most of to-morrow, too."
"This message," Freddie Firefly went on, "was something about Kiddie
Katydid. I found out his secret to-night. And I thought Mr. Crow ought
to know about it."
Now, Mr. Frog was all ready to leap into the water. But when Freddie
said that, the tailor promptly changed his mind.
"Kiddie Katydid's secret!" he repeated in a tone of amazement. "You
don't mean to say you've discovered what it was that Katy did?"
"Never mind!" said Freddie. "I don't want to trouble you, Mr. Frog. I
know you're too busy to bother your head with such things."
"Tut, tut, young man!" Mr. Frog cried. "I see you have something
important to tell me. And since that is the case, I'll manage somehow to
deliver your message to Mr. Crow, even if I have to disappoint a
customer. _Always oblige a friend!_ That's my motto!" said Mr. Frog.
"Very well, then!" Freddie Firefly replied. "I'll say what I was going
to; but it doesn't concern that Katy person you just mentioned."
"Oh, it doesn't," the tailor echoed. "Then I don't know that I care to
listen to you, after all. I thought you were going to explain about that
mysterious lady that Kiddie's always singing about." He was sadly
disappointed. And once more he turned toward the creek.
IX
MR. FROG IS PLEASED
"Kiddie Katydid doesn't sing!" Freddie Firefly told Mr. Frog hurriedly.
And Mr. Frog was so surprised that he almost sat right down in the mud.
"What do you mean?" he cried. "You must be crazy! For there isn't a
single person in all Pleasant Valley that hasn't heard Kiddie Katydid
singing his tiresome song on a fine midsummer night."
"That--" replied Freddie Firefly--"that is just where you're mistaken,
Mr. Frog. And that's where everybody else is mistaken, too. To-night I
was lucky enough to learn that Kiddie Katydid has been fooling us all
this time."
"You don't say so!" said Mr. Frog. "Then who is it that sings that
everlasting chorus?"
"Nobody!"
"Nonsense!" Mr. Frog scoffed. "I can be fooled once, maybe. But I'm not
to be fooled twice. And you needn't think for a moment that you can make
me believe any such thing."
"I don't care whether you believe it or not," Freddie Firefly declared.
"All I ask you to do is to tell the story to Mr. Crow."
"He won't believe it, either," the tailor retorted.
"Perhaps he will when he hears the rest of the message," Freddie
answered. "I was just going to explain that Kiddie Katydid has a trick
of rubbing his wing covers together to make that _Katy did_ sound."
"For the land's sake!" cried Mr. Frog, as he leaped into the water,
convinced at last of the truth of Freddie Firefly's claim. "I must hurry
home at once, for dawn's already breaking. And Mr. Crow may come sailing
over my place at any moment." He landed with a splash in the creek and
started to swim rapidly away. But after a few strokes he paused and
turned around. "You might almost say that Kiddie Katydid is a fiddler,
mightn't you?" he called.
"Something like that!" Freddie Firefly agreed a bit doubtfully.
"I'll tell Mr. Crow that, anyhow," said the tailor. "It will make the
story more interesting, at least. And so far as I can see, it can't do
any harm."
And then he hastened away, leaving Freddie Firefly to get home as best
he could in the gray of the early morning.
"You may as well put out your light!" Mr. Frog shouted back, as he
disappeared among the reeds. But he didn't wait to see whether Freddie
took his advice. He was too much excited over the strange news. And as
he swam easily along with practiced strokes he kept talking to himself.
"I'm a pretty clever chap, I am!" he chuckled. "I've discovered a great
secret this night. And old Mr. Crow will be glad to hear all about it.
Perhaps he'll want me to help him with his newspaper after this.
"And for all I know I'll have so much to do that I won't be able to make
any more clothes for my customers."
He hadn't swum far before he had entirely forgotten that it was really
Freddie Firefly who had discovered the secret and told it to him.
No doubt if anybody had reminded Mr. Frog of that fact he would have
been very indignant.
X
A PAIR OF RASCALS
Mr. Frog reached home just as the sun peeped over the hills. He slipped
hastily out of the water, sprang up the bank of the creek, and in three
jumps landed on the roof of his tailor's shop. There he squatted, while
his queer, bulging eyes scanned the sky in every direction. He was
watching for Mr. Crow, and all but bursting with the news that he had
for the old gentleman.
Mr. Frog had not sat there long before he heard a hoarse _Caw, caw!_ in
the distance.
"There he is!" cried the tailor aloud. "There's the old boy! He'll be in
sight in a moment."
And sure enough! soon Mr. Crow flapped out of the woods and came sailing
over the meadows.
Thereupon Mr. Frog set up a great croaking. And to his delight his
elderly friend heard him calling and dropped down at once.
"I've some news for you," Mr. Frog announced, as soon as the old black
scamp alighted near him.
"It'll have to keep," Mr. Crow replied. "I'm on my way to the cornfield.
I haven't had my breakfast yet. And a person of my age has to eat his
meals regularly."
The sprightly tailor looked slightly disappointed.
"I don't know whether the news will keep or not," he replied slyly.
"It's very important. And I may have to tell it to someone else first
if you don't care to hear it now."
"What's your news about?" Mr. Crow asked him gruffly. "I suppose you've
made another suit for somebody. And you remember I told you I couldn't
put that news in my newspaper any more unless you paid me something.
It's advertising. And nobody gets free advertising."
"This news is something entirely different from anything you've ever
heard," Mr. Frog insisted. "It's about Kiddie Katydid. He's a----"
"Wait till I come back from the cornfield!" Mr. Crow pleaded.
"I can't! I simply _must_ tell it now!" Mr. Frog cried.
"Very well! But please talk fast; for I'm terribly hungry."
"Kiddie Katydid is a fiddler," Mr. Frog announced. "He fiddles every
night. And that's the way he makes that ditty of his--_Katy did,
Katy_----"
"Don't!" Mr. Crow begged. "Please don't! It's bad enough to have to hear
that silly chorus every time I happen to wake up during the night--bad
enough, I say, without being obliged to listen to it in broad daylight."
"Very well!" the tailor yielded. "But he fiddles it, all the same. And
when you tell my tale to Brownie Beaver I guess he'll be surprised."
"I shan't tell him," Mr. Crow declared, thereby astonishing Mr. Frog.
"Why not?" the tailor demanded.
"We've had a slight disagreement," said Mr. Crow with a hoarse laugh.
"I'm not his newspaper any longer."
"Well, there's nothing to prevent your telling this story to other
people, is there? And you certainly will be willing to mention me at the
same time, won't you?" Mr. Frog inquired with an anxious pucker between
his strange eyes.
"Where do _you_ come in, pray tell?" Mr. Crow inquired coldly.
"Why, I discovered the secret!"
"Perhaps you did--and perhaps you didn't," Mr. Crow observed. Being
very, very old, he was very, very wise. And he had long since learned
that Mr. Frog was a somewhat slippery person. "If I spread any such news
as this about Pleasant Valley I shall do it in my own way," he remarked.
And thereupon the old gentleman rose quickly and disappeared in the
direction of the cornfield, without so much as a "Thank you!"
Mr. Frog gazed after him mournfully.
"If that isn't just my luck!" he lamented. "I ought to have kept the
secret till after the old boy had his breakfast. Then perhaps he'd have
been better natured."
XI
A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER
Well, the day was not half gone before all the wild creatures in
Pleasant Valley had heard all about Kiddie Katydid and his fiddling. At
least twenty-seven people came to Mr. Frog at different times and told
him the news. And he was furious.
"Old Mr. Crow has deceived me!" he complained. "I found out this secret
myself. And now that black rascal's taking all the credit for it."
"Mr. Crow has suggested that Kiddie Katydid be invited to join the
Pleasant Valley orchestra," Long Bill Wren informed Mr. Frog. "They have
no fiddlers, you know. And Kiddie will be a great help to them. Mr.
Crow has appointed a committee to call on Kiddie to-night and ask him to
come to the next concert."
That was the last straw, so far as Mr. Frog was concerned.
"Mr. Crow might at least have put me on the committee," he spluttered.
"But he has left me out in the cold."
"Why, it's not cold to-day!" Long Bill exclaimed. "Quite warm--I call
it!"
"It'll be good and cold by night," said Mr. Frog. "I look for a sudden
change in the weather. Nobody ought to venture out to-night without his
heaviest overcoat on."
After flinging that remark over his shoulder, Mr. Frog flung himself
inside his tailor's shop and slammed the door behind him. And then,
sitting down cross-legged upon his table, he began to think, wrinkling
his low brow until you might have supposed he would need to smooth it
out again with one of his flat-irons.
At last the tailor suddenly quit thinking and smiled very widely from
ear to ear. And carefully selecting some soft, warm, green cloth he
began to fashion a small garment, which was tiny enough to fit--well, to
fit a person as little as Kiddie Katydid.
Being a spry worker, Mr. Frog finished his task by nightfall. And then,
taking his handiwork with him, he left his shop--after locking the door
behind him--and hid himself beneath a shelving rock on the bank of the
creek.
He was in a very happy mood; for his ideas about the weather had proved
to be good. It was already turning cold.
"If it wasn't midsummer I should think we were going to have a frost!"
Mr. Frog exclaimed, buttoning the long coat which he had donned before
going out of doors. "I wish they'd hurry up!" he added mysteriously. He
kept a close watch upon his shop door. It was evident that he expected
callers.
Not long afterward a crowd began to gather in front of Mr. Frog's door.
"Back Soon" said the sign upon it. And the thinly clad, shivering knot
of field folk sat themselves down unhappily and waited for the tailor to
appear. Every one of them wanted a warm new overcoat, for each expected
to be out late that night.
Meanwhile Mr. Frog watched them--and giggled as loud as he dared. It was
Mr. Crow's committee that thronged about his door--the people who were
expecting to call upon Kiddie Katydid that very night to invite him to
join the Pleasant Valley orchestra.
[Illustration: Kiddie Took His New Coat From the Twig
(_Page 59_)]
XII
A PRESENT FOR KIDDIE
Mr. Frog had a delightful time listening to the remarks of his callers,
who had no idea that he was so near at hand. And as the weather grew
colder, they began to shiver and their voices began to shake. And by the
time it was almost dark all the waiting company were quite discouraged.
"I'll never be able to stay out to-night!" Chirpy Cricket declared. "I'm
so cold now that I can scarcely move."
And it was the same with everybody else. Even Freddie Firefly complained
that his light didn't warm him in the least. And he said he would have
to go home at once.
"Mr. Crow will be very angry with us to-morrow when he learns we haven't
called on Kiddie Katydid," somebody remarked. And a hush fell upon the
company. But Chirpy Cricket had a happy thought, which made them all
feel better.
"Kiddie Katydid won't stay out of doors on a night like this!" he
suddenly exclaimed. "He'll find some snug place to creep into. And we
wouldn't be able to find him in Farmer Green's dooryard even if we tried
to."
"That's so!" Chirpy's companions shouted.
"Then there's no need of our freezing here any longer, waiting for that
wretched tailor, Mr. Frog!" said Freddie Firefly.
And somehow, Mr. Frog did not smile quite so widely over that speech.
Nevertheless, he was pleased, on the whole. And not waiting to watch
the shivering party leave the neighborhood, he set off at once toward
Farmer Green's house, making first for the river, which ran near the
farm buildings, because Mr. Frog did not like to travel by land.
Because the air was cool, the water felt all the warmer. And by the time
Mr. Frog had reached his journey's end he was almost overheated.
Besides, as he noticed, it was not so cold in Farmer Green's dooryard as
it had been by the creek.
He stopped, for a few moments, to cool himself in the watering-trough.
And then he hopped briskly on to the front yard.
To his great delight he had scarcely reached the clump of maple trees
when right above him he heard Kiddie Katydid's famous refrain.
"Good evening!" Mr. Frog called. "I've brought a little present for you,
all the way from the creek."
"How-dy do!" said Kiddie Katydid. "It's a cool night, isn't it?"
"You won't mind the weather when you put this on," Mr. Frog replied,
holding up the small garment he had made that afternoon.
"What's that?" Kiddie Katydid asked.
"An overcoat, fashioned expressly for you by the finest tailor in
Pleasant Valley!" said Mr. Frog very proudly.
"You're exceedingly kind, I'm sure," said Kiddie. And he was about to
jump down and slip into the coat when he noticed that Mr. Frog had an
extremely wide mouth.... Suppose, after slipping into the coat, he
should find himself slipping down the tailor's throat?
"Just hang the coat on a twig and I'll get into it a little later,"
Kiddie Katydid suggested.
"I see!" Mr. Frog cried. "That's your way of accepting a gift. And I
wouldn't dream of quarreling with you about that. So I'll hang the coat
right here and go back to the watering-trough to wet my feet. While I'm
gone you can try the coat on, and tell me how you like it when I come
back."
"I hope it's a green one!" said Kiddie Katydid somewhat anxiously. "For
if it isn't green, I couldn't wear it, you know. I always wear green.
It's my favorite color."
"Ah! Trust me not to make a mistake!" Mr. Frog chuckled happily. And
then he withdrew. But he could not help pausing for a moment, to look
back and watch, while Kiddie sprang down from his tree and took his new
coat from the twig on which the tailor had hung it.
XIII
KIDDIE KATYDID IS SHY
"Now--" said Mr. Frog, when he had returned from the
watering-trough--"now tell me, how do you like the overcoat I made for
you?"
And Kiddie Katydid, safe in his tree once more, and snugly buttoned in
Mr. Frog's gift, replied that it was the finest garment he had ever
owned in all his life.
"Good!" said Mr. Frog. "And I dare say you've had many overcoats in your
time, too."
Kiddie Katydid did not correct Mr. Frog's mistake. To tell the truth, he
had never before had an overcoat on his back.
"I've come here to-night to deliver an important message to you," Mr.
Frog went on. "And thinking the weather might be cooler than you liked,
I made you that fine coat so you could stay out here in your tree and
listen to what I have to tell you.... I hear--" he said--"I hear that
you're a musician."
"Yes!" said Kiddie Katydid--for he knew well enough that Freddie Firefly
could not have kept the secret.
"I hear that you're a fiddler," Mr. Frog added.
"Why, no! I've never played the fiddle!" Kiddie Katydid exclaimed. "I
don't know how to do that."
"Well, how do you know that you can't, if you've never tried?" Mr. Frog
retorted. "If you can play _Katy did, Katy did; she did, she did_, by
rubbing your wing covers together, there's no knowing what you could do
with a real fiddle and bow."
"That's true," Kiddie admitted. "I never thought of that."
"Well," said Mr. Frog, who appeared greatly pleased with himself,
"anyhow, I want you to join our singing society. Perhaps you've heard me
and my friends over in the swamp. Almost every night we have a singing
party there. And if you'll only agree to fiddle for us, while we sing, I
venture to say that we'll have Farmer Green getting up out of his bed to
listen to us."
Naturally, the invitation pleased Kiddie Katydid. But for all that, he
shook his head slowly.
"I'm afraid I'm too shy," he told Mr. Frog. "I like to stay hidden among
the leaves, where people can't see me."
"That'll be all right!" Mr. Frog assured him. "You can hide in some bush
near-by, where we can't look at you."
But still Kiddie Katydid wouldn't accept the invitation. Although Mr.
Frog teased and teased, all he would say was that he would think the
matter over.
"Promise me this, at least--" Mr. Frog finally said--"promise me that
you won't agree to make music for anybody else! Now that people know
you're musical, they'll be asking you to play in an orchestra, or a
band, or a fife-and-drum corps, or something. But I've invited you
first, and if you oblige anybody it ought to be me--especially after
I've given you that beautiful warm overcoat." The tailor looked upwards
into the tree so beseechingly that Kiddie Katydid hadn't the heart to
refuse his request.
"I'll promise that," he said.
"Hurrah!" cried Mr. Frog, opening his mouth so widely that Kiddie
Katydid couldn't help shuddering at the sight.
And then Mr. Frog leaped into the air three times. And each time that he
leaped, he struck his heels together three times, just to show how happy
he was.
Then, with a hearty "Good night!" he turned away and went skipping off.
And Kiddie Katydid, making his curious music in the top of the maple
tree, kept thinking that the tailor was one of the oddest chaps he had
ever seen.
He did wish, too, that Mr. Frog had a smaller mouth.
XIV
KIDDIE KEEPS HIS PROMISE
Old Mr. Crow flew into a terrible rage when he found, the next morning,
that his committee had not called on Kiddie Katydid during the night.
And when Chirpy Cricket told him that the weather was too cold for
anybody to stay out late, Mr. Crow said "Nonsense! What about Mr. Frog?"
That was a hard question to answer. And Chirpy Cricket was so afraid of
angry Mr. Crow that he promptly hid himself among the roots of a clump
of grass.
Now, the fact that Mr. Frog had been away from his shop the night before
set Mr. Crow to worrying.
"That slippery tailor has been up to some mischief," Mr. Crow declared.
"And if he has played a trick on me I'll never hear the last of it."
The old gentleman was so disturbed that he quite lost his appetite
during the rest of the day. And he moped and groaned about, hoping for
the best, but fearing the worst. One thing that made him especially
uneasy was the fact that when he called on Mr. Frog he found the tailor
in a gayer mood than he had ever known him to be in.
Mr. Frog bounded about his shop like a rubber ball. And the worst of it
was, he _would_ sing, although Mr. Crow begged him, with tears in his
eyes, to stop.
"What's the matter?" Mr. Frog asked him. "Don't you like my voice? Or is
it the songs I sing? I've a new one that I'd like to sing for you. It's
about one of the Katydid family; and I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing it."
But Mr. Crow wouldn't stay there any longer. With a loud squawk of rage
he scurried away. He was sure, then, that Mr. Frog had tricked him.
That night Mr. Crow's committee called on Kiddie Katydid. It was a fine,
warm, moonlight night. And as they drew near Farmer Green's place they
could hear Kiddie's shrill music, even while they were still a quarter
of a mile away.
"He plays better than ever," said Freddie Firefly. "I wish Mr. Crow
could hear him." And they hurried on, believing that everything was
going to turn out all right, in the end.
"Mr. Crow will be sorry, to-morrow, that he scolded us," said Chirpy
Cricket.
But the committee met with a sad disappointment. When they invited
Kiddie Katydid to join the Pleasant Valley orchestra he told them that
he couldn't.
"Why not?" Freddie Firefly asked.
"I've promised somebody that I wouldn't," Kiddie said.
And though they pressed him for an explanation, he wouldn't give them
any. He wouldn't say another word.
It was a downcast company that left Farmer Green's front yard. And they
quarreled among themselves, too, before they parted. For there wasn't
one of them that was willing to tell Mr. Crow that Kiddie had declined
his invitation.
But they finally hit upon a plan that suited everybody. They agreed to
get Mr. Crow's cousin, Jasper Jay, to break the news gently to the old
gentleman.
It turned out that Jasper was delighted to undertake the task. He hoped
that Mr. Crow would fly into a passion when he heard the sad tale. And
Jasper was not disappointed. For old Mr. Crow was furious.
"It's the work of that sly rascal, Mr. Frog!" he squalled. "He must have
called on Kiddie Katydid and hoodwinked him somehow.... I'd like to know
what he said."
But Mr. Crow never found that out. So Kiddie Katydid had another secret,
which was known only to himself and Mr. Frog.
And Mr. Frog wouldn't tell anybody, because he preferred to tease Mr.
Crow.
And Kiddie Katydid wouldn't tell anybody, because he liked secrets. So
when people tried to pry into the affair, he just folded his wings
tightly over himself--and said nothing.
XV
BENJAMIN BAT'S PLAN
Of course, Kiddie Katydid was not always to be found in his favorite
nook among the trees in Farmer Green's front yard. Quite often he went
skipping about from tree to tree or from bush to bush, sometimes flying
and sometimes leaping. It really made little difference to him which
mode of travel he used. And he never stopped to think how lucky he was
to be able to move so spryly with the help of either his legs or his
wings. He took his good fortune as a matter of course.
There was Mr. Frog! He was a famous jumper; but he couldn't fly. And
there was Mr. Nighthawk! He was a skillful flier; but he couldn't jump.
Such thoughts, however, never entered Kiddie Katydid's head. He went
cheerfully about his business--which was _eating_, principally--and
jumped or flew as the mood seized him. Indeed, if it hadn't been for
that queer fellow, Benjamin Bat, probably Kiddie never would have
realized just what he could--or couldn't--do.
Since Benjamin was another night-prowler like himself, Kiddie Katydid
saw him often. It seemed to Kiddie that he could scarcely ever gaze at
the full moon without catching sight of Benjamin Bat's dusky shape
flitting jerkily across the great, round, yellow disk.
When Benjamin was astir in the neighborhood, Kiddie Katydid lay low--or
high--in his favorite tree-top. At least, he kept very still until the
night was nearly gone, to give Benjamin Bat plenty of time to satisfy
his hunger. For Kiddie found Benjamin Bat a much more agreeable
companion when he had eaten his fill. Early in the evening, soon after
he had waked up, Benjamin was positively ferocious. But the more he ate,
the pleasanter he grew. And by the time faint streaks of light began to
show in the east he could smile and crack a joke as easily as anybody
else.
Well, late one night--or early one morning--Kiddie Katydid and Benjamin
Bat were enjoying a chat in the tree-tops, when Benjamin put a new idea
into Kiddie's head.
"We ought to have some sports right here in Farmer Green's yard," he
suggested. "You're such a fine jumper that you could try your skill
against Mr. Frog. And you're such a fine flier that you and Freddie
Firefly ought to have a race.... I'd suggest--" he added--"I'd suggest
that the sports take place after dark, almost any evening."
But Kiddie Katydid spoke up quickly and said that he wouldn't care to
join in the fun until the night was almost gone. He said he was sure he
could jump and fly better at that time. And that was quite true, because
he knew that if Mr. Bat swallowed him early in the evening he wouldn't
be able to take any part in the sports.
"Very well, then!" Benjamin Bat replied. "But it will be the worst
possible time for me."
"What do you mean?" Kiddie Katydid inquired. "Do you expect to enter any
of the contests?"