The Tale of Kiddie Katydid Part 6

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 gra.s.s.

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 appet.i.te 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 pa.s.sion 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_, princ.i.p.ally--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?"

"Oh, yes!" said Benjamin. "I'm going to hang by my heels from the limb of a tree. And since I'm never so heavy early in the evening, before I've had a chance to eat much, I'd prefer to have the sports begin soon after dark."

But Kiddie Katydid said that there was no doubt Benjamin Bat would win in the sport of hanging head downward by his heels. And he told Benjamin not to worry.

XVI

A NOISY CROWD

When the night of the races and other sports finally came, a great crowd began to gather about Farmer Green's place soon after dark. Although Benjamin Bat had told people that the fun wasn't going to begin until almost morning, they were all so excited that they couldn't wait for the night to pa.s.s.

They lingered around the dooryard and talked so loudly that they actually disturbed the household. Farmer Green was even tempted to get up and shut his window, he found it so hard to go to sleep.