BAD BENJAMIN BAT
For a long time Benjamin Bat had had his eye on Freddie
Firefly. And every time the two met, Benjamin
stopped to tell Freddie how plump he was growing.
“You’re just about ready to—ahem!”
Benjamin remarked when he came upon Freddie in Farmer
Green’s dooryard one fine evening.
“What did you say?” Freddie inquired.
“Never mind!” Benjamin Bat answered.
“I was only talking to myself. It’s
a habit I have.”
“You’re a queer one!” Freddie Firefly
exclaimed. “But it’s no wonder.
People say that you’ve hung upside down so much
that the inside of your head is all topsy-turvy.”
“When he heard that remark Benjamin Bat promptly
flew into a rage.
“You’d better be careful!” he warned
Freddie. “I don’t allow anybody to
talk to me like that.”
“Oh! You mustn’t mind what I just
said,” Freddie Firefly replied. “I
was only talking to myself—ahem ahem!”
But strange to say, Freddie’s answer failed
to please Benjamin.
“Your remark was very disagreeable, anyhow,”
he declared.
“Well—so was yours,” Freddie
retorted stoutly.
“How can you say that?” Benjamin Bat inquired
with a sly look. “I didn’t finish
it, did I?”
“No!” replied Freddie. “But
you can’t fool me. I know what you meant,
as well as you do.”
And straightway Benjamin Bat looked most uncomfortable,
because he had been thinking that Freddie Firefly
had become plump enough to
eat.
Indeed, there was only one thing that kept Benjamin
from devouring Freddie Firefly right then and there.
And that was Freddie’s flashing light.
Yes! Benjamin Bat was afraid that if he touched
Freddie Firefly he would get burned.
Once a forest fire broke out while Benjamin was asleep
in the woods. And he didn’t wake up until
the tree in which he was hanging by his heels had
begun to blaze. Luckily he escaped with his life.
But the flames singed the tips of his wings and gave
him such a fright that ever afterward he feared a
fire or a light of any kind. And now he did wish
that Freddie Firefly would put out his light, just
for a short time. So he said, after a few moments:
“Don’t you think you ought to stop flashing
your light?”
“Do you mean—” asked Freddie—“do
you mean that I ought to keep it glaring steadily
all the time?”
“Oh, no!” Benjamin Bat replied hurriedly.
“I mean that you ought to put it out for a while.”
“Why should I do that?” Freddie Firefly
wanted to know.
“To please Farmer Green, of course,” Benjamin
replied glibly. “Don’t you know that
a light always draws mosquitoes? And it can’t
be very pleasant for Farmer Green to have half the
mosquitoes in the neighborhood crowding into his dooryard.”
“What would be the use of my putting out my
light, when all my relations are flashing theirs?”
Freddie asked.
