“Trouble!” Freddie Firefly sneered, for
he knew well enough—by this time—that
Benjamin Bat was scared, though he couldn’t quite
guess the reason for Benjamin’s fright.
“You’ll be in worse trouble if I show
Solomon Owl where you sleep in the daytime.”
“Stand back!” Benjamin Bat shrieked suddenly.
“You’ll singe my wings if you’re
not careful!”
Then Freddie Firefly knew exactly what Benjamin feared.
And he was so amused that he couldn’t help taking
a turn around the dooryard, to dance and laugh and
shout.
And when he came back to the place where he had left
Benjamin Bat, that odd gentleman had vanished.
The terrified Benjamin had floundered away toward
the swamp. And never, afterward, did he have
a word to say to Freddie Firefly.
But whenever Freddie Firefly caught sight of Benjamin
Bat’s dark shape, flitting in a zigzag path
across the moon, he always cried out in a loud voice:
“Look out, Benjamin Bat! Mr. Moon will
singe your wings if you’re not careful.”
MRS. LADYBUG’S ADVICE
Finding himself face to face with Mrs. Ladybug one
night in Farmer Green’s meadow, Freddie Firefly
noticed, even before she spoke, that the little lady
was not in a cheerful mood. In fact, she frowned
at him darkly and pointed one of her knitting needles
straight at him as she began to speak.
“You’re terribly careless with that light
of yours,” she said. “People are
always warning me that my house is on fire and telling
me that I’d better hurry home. Now—”
she added—“now I think I’ve
discovered the reason why my friends are forever worrying
about fire. No doubt when they give me such advice
they have seen you prowling around my house with that
light of yours; and they think that if you haven’t
already set my house on fire, you’re just a-going
to.”
When Freddie Firefly saw that Mrs. Ladybug was making
Benjamin Bat’s mistake of thinking that his
light could start a blaze, he had to smile.
“Nonsense!” he cried. “I’m
always very careful, Mrs. Ladybug, when I’m
near your house. You know that I wouldn’t
want your charming children to burn up.”
And now Mrs. Ladybug pointed her other knitting needle
at Freddie.
“Well, if you’re not careless, you’re
silly, anyhow,” she snapped. “I wouldn’t
object so much to your light if only you’d put
it to some good use. But as long as I’ve
known you—and that’s several weeks—I’ve
never seen you do anything but caper about the meadow
and dance.” And then Mrs. Ladybug began
to knit furiously, as if to show Freddie Firefly that
she was never idle, even if she did spend a good deal
of time away from home. “Do you intend
always to fritter your nights away as you do now?”
she inquired.
“What else could I do? I should like to
know—” Freddie began.
“Why not use your light in some kind of work?”
Mrs. Ladybug asked him.
