The Tale of Betsy Butterfly Part 5

"Oh, I'll come!" he cried in his thin, quavering voice, though what she meant by a "witness" was more than he knew.

So Mrs. Ladybug and Daddy Longlegs set forth to find Betsy b.u.t.terfly.

And behind them followed a crowd of their neighbors. Even lazy Buster b.u.mblebee joined the procession. Though he was a drone, and never worked, he was always ready to exert himself for the sake of any new excitement.

The strange company wandered back and forth across the meadow for some time without finding Betsy b.u.t.terfly. But at last Mrs. Ladybug spied her. And soon Betsy found herself surrounded by the mob.

"Goodness!" she cried, looking about her in surprise. "How nice of you all to call on me! I'm _so_ glad to see you!"

Betsy b.u.t.terfly was so cordial that Mrs. Ladybug couldn't help looking somewhat uncomfortable. She couldn't avoid a strange feeling of guilt.

And yet she told herself that Betsy b.u.t.terfly was really the guilty one.

"She's a bold piece!" Mrs. Ladybug exclaimed, under her breath.

"Perhaps you won't be so happy to see us when you hear what we have to say to you," Mrs. Ladybug began.

"There hasn't been an accident, I hope!" Betsy cried. "Your house hasn't burned?"

"No!" replied Mrs. Ladybug. And again she said, "No!" in a very decided manner. "We've come to warn you that we've found out about your trickery," she announced. "We know that you like b.u.t.ter, and that you're in the habit of taking it from Farmer Green--yes! and eggs, too!"

"Why, I don't know what you're talking about!" Betsy b.u.t.terfly faltered.

She was really greatly surprised.

"It won't help you to be untruthful," Mrs. Ladybug told her severely.

"It's no wonder--" she added--"it's no wonder Mrs. Green wouldn't give me a bit of b.u.t.ter when I went to the farmhouse yesterday. She thought _I_ was the one that's been stealing it from her, right along."

And then Mrs. Ladybug was amazed by what followed. For Betsy b.u.t.terfly actually smiled at her.

"You're mistaken," she said. "I never eat b.u.t.ter. I don't like it. And as for eggs, how could I ever break through an egg-sh.e.l.l?"

"I don't know anything about that," said Mrs. Ladybug. "And besides, I didn't come here to be questioned," she added tartly. "If you have any questions to ask, just ask 'em of _him_, for he's seen you with your face buried in b.u.t.ter!" And she pointed at Daddy Longlegs.

And now it was _his_ turn to look uncomfortable. For he considered Betsy b.u.t.terfly to be very beautiful indeed.

XII

A TERRIBLE BLUNDER

WHEN the beautiful Betsy b.u.t.terfly turned her gaze on him, Daddy Longlegs couldn't help wis.h.i.+ng that he had worn his new coat that day.

However, he straightened his necktie carefully and tried to look as well as he could.

"So you've seen me eating b.u.t.ter, have you?" Betsy b.u.t.terfly asked him.

"Not _eating_ it!" he corrected her. "I've seen you _standing_ on it.

And your face was hidden in it, too."

Mrs. Ladybug shot a triumphant glance at the crowd, of which she and Betsy b.u.t.terfly and Daddy Longlegs were the center.

"What have you to say now, my fine lady?" she demanded of Betsy with a sneer.

And still Betsy b.u.t.terfly was quite unruffled.

"Where did you see me doing that?" she asked Daddy Longlegs pleasantly enough.

"I object!" Mrs. Ladybug interrupted hastily. "You needn't answer her question," she advised Daddy Longlegs. "I know her tricks! She'll keep us talking here until we forget what our errand was!"

But Daddy Longlegs paid no attention to Mrs. Ladybug's advice.

"I saw you in this meadow," he explained.

And Mrs. Ladybug began to look somewhat worried.

"Come!" she cried. "Let's all go home now. We've warned her; and we'll leave her to think over what she's done.... I hope--" Mrs. Ladybug added, turning to Betsy b.u.t.terfly--"I hope you'll decide to turn over a new leaf."

"Why, that's exactly what she did, that time when I saw her!" Daddy Longlegs shouted. "While I was watching her I saw her turn over a leaf.

So what's the use of her turning over another."

And now it was Mrs. Ladybug's turn to look amazed and bewildered.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she snapped, glaring at Daddy Longlegs. "And I don't believe you know, yourself."

"Oh! yes, I do!" he retorted shrilly.

"b.u.t.ter has no leaves," said Mrs. Ladybug with a knowing air. "I saw heaps and heaps of it in Farmer Green's b.u.t.tery yesterday. And there wasn't a leaf on it."

"How about eggs, then?" shouted somebody in the crowd. It was stupid Buster b.u.mblebee! And of course n.o.body paid any heed to his silly question.

As he stared at Mrs. Ladybug dully Daddy Longlegs let his mouth fall wide open.

"Why, what do you mean?" he demanded at last. "You and I aren't talking about the same sort of b.u.t.ter at all! You're describing the kind of b.u.t.ter that Mrs. Green makes at the farmhouse."

"And what, pray tell, have you been talking about all this time?" Mrs.

Ladybug gasped.

"The b.u.t.ter-and-eggs in the meadow!" Daddy Longlegs informed her. "I suppose you know the plant, don't you?"

"I've heard of it," Mrs. Ladybug replied. "But I doubt if there is such a thing."

"And I say there is!" Buster b.u.mblebee clamored. "We b.u.mblebees are very fond of b.u.t.ter-and-eggs. And we're about the only field people that know how to open a blossom and reach its nectar."

Little Mrs. Ladybug waited to hear no more.

"You've made a terrible blunder!" she told Daddy Longlegs hurriedly. And before he could answer her she had hastened away.

Like many another jealous body, Mrs. Ladybug had behaved very foolishly.