Arthur Scott Bailey

“ 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!" ”

“ 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 [27] 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?" ”

“ Kiddie Katydid had a neighbor who was a good deal like him. Indeed, a careless person had to look sharply to discover much difference between them. But there was a difference. There was, especially, a certain way in which one could always tell them apart. One had only to take the trouble to look at their horns—or feelers. For Kiddie Katydid had horns as long—or longer—than he was. But his neighbor, who was known as Leaper the Locust, wore his horns quite short. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Mr. Grasshopper!' right in your ear. You have no right to open the message. And I promise you that I shall make trouble for you if you don't mind your own affairs."
"Well, well—what's all this row about, anyhow?" asked a strange voice. It was a newcomer in Pleasant Valley who had just spoken. He elbowed his way briskly through the throng until he reached the center of it, where Kiddie and Leaper the Locust faced each other angrily. People noticed that the stranger looked as if he had travelled a long distance. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Freddie Firefly wanted to know.
"That's another of my secrets," said Kiddie Katydid. [108]
So Freddie Firefly went off to hunt for Leaper the Locust. He knew now why Leaper had struggled to escape from that mysterious messenger with the curious message. And Freddie intended to ask Leaper a good many questions about his cousins.
But he couldn't find Leaper anywhere. He searched for him high and low, and far and wide. But nobody knew where Leaper was.
"There are lots of Short-horns everywhere to-night," Benjamin Bat told him. "I claim any one of them is just as good as another." ”

“ 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." [30]
"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." ”

“ 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 [34] 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. ”

“ Even when Benjamin Bat called him a long-legged, flat-headed, paddle-footed meddler, Mr. Frog only smiled and turned a few somersaults backward.
"What's the matter with you?" Benjamin Bat asked him at last. "Can't you speak?"
"Certainly! Certainly!" Mr. Frog said then. "I've been trying to think of some way to prevent so much quarreling. It hardly seems fair to Kiddie Katydid—this uproar right in his dooryard. And since you are the one that's making the great [81] est disturbance, I'd suggest that you go away and leave us to enjoy the rest of the night in peace." ”

“ 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 [4] 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! ”

“ 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," [9] 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. ”

“ Kiddie told him. "What you hear is nothing but Leaper the Locust's cousin's family. They're just beginning to arrive." [107]
Freddie Firefly could scarcely believe his own ears.
"Why, there must be dozens of them!" he cried.
"More than that!" Kiddie Katydid replied.
"Hundreds, then!"
"Still more!" Kiddie Katydid said.
"Well, thousands, then!" cried Freddie Firefly. "You don't mean to say there are more of 'em than that?"
"There are tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands," Kiddie Katydid declared solemnly. "They'll eat everything they can find. ”

“ 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 [59] way of accepting a gift. ”

“ 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 [73] Freddie Firefly ought to have a race. ”

“ 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." [36]
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. ”

“ 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. [60]
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?" ”

“ Mr. Nighthawk replied with a quick, ner [19] vous 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." [20]
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. ”

“ 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 [52] great help to them. 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. [40]
IX MR. FROG IS PLEASED
"Kiddie Katydid doesn't sing!" Freddie Firefly told Mr. ”

“ Then he went to live with a little boy and had the time of his life.
THE STORY OF A CANDY RABBIT
He was continually in danger of losing his life by being eaten up. But he had plenty of fun, and often saw his many friends from the Toy Counter. ”