The Tale of Freddie Firefly
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Arthur Scott Bailey >> The Tale of Freddie Firefly
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
TUCK-ME-IN TALES
(Trademark Registered)
THE TALE OF FREDDIE FIREFLY
BY
ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
Author of
"SLEEPY-TIME TALES"
(Trademark Registered).
ILLUSTRATED BY
HARRY L. SMITH
NEW YORK
1918
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. A MERRY DANCER
II. A FINE PLAN
III. FREDDIE AGREES TO HELP
IV. GETTING READY
V. AT THE STONE WALL
VI. THE BANNERS
VII. THE TORCHLIGHT PARADE
VIII. BUSTER'S SCHEME
IX. FREDDIE'S PROMISE
X. DRAWING LOTS
XI. PEPPERY POLLY
XII. A TERRIBLE SONG
XIII. CAUGHT BY A THISTLE
XIV. JENNIE JUNEBUG
XV. THE FAT LADY'S SECRET
XVI. FREDDIE'S ESCAPE
XVII. BAD BENJAMIN BAT
XVIII. PLEASING FARMER GREEN
XIX. BENJAMIN FEELS GUILTY
XX. MRS. LADYBUG'S ADVICE
XXI. ALL ABOUT TRAINS
XXII. WORK ON THE RAILROAD
XXIII. WHY FREDDIE WAS GLAD
ILLUSTRATIONS
YOU'RE TERRIBLY CARELESS WITH THAT
LIGHT OF YOURS . . . Frontispiece
FREDDIE SAT ON TOP OF THE BANNER
FREDDIE PLAYS A JOKE ON PEPPERY POLLY BUMBLEBEE
FREDDIE WAS BUMPED INTO BY JENNIE JUNEBUG
THE TALE OF
FREDDIE FIREFLY
I
A MERRY DANCER
Nobody in Pleasant Valley ever paid any attention to Freddie Firefly in
the daytime. But on warm, and especially on dark summer nights he always
appeared at his best. Then he went gaily flitting through the meadows.
And sometimes he even danced right in Farmer Green's dooryard, together
with a hundred or two of his nearest relations.
No one could help noticing those sprightly revelers, flashing their
greenish-white lights through the gloom. And many of the field people,
as well as the folk that lived in the farmhouse, thought that the
dancers made a pretty sight.
But there were others who said that the Firefly family might better be
spending their time in some more serious way.
Benjamin Bat, who lived in Cedar Swamp, was one of those who found fault
with the merry dancers. He grumbled a good deal about them--and
especially about Freddie Firefly.
"He's so proud of that light he carries!" Benjamin often exclaimed,
"Now, if he could hang by his feet from the limb of a tree--and SLEEP at
the same time--he'd have something to boast of!"
No doubt Benjamin Bat was jealous. Anyhow, Solomon Owl declared that
there was still another reason why Benjamin did not like Freddie
Firefly. Solomon claimed that Benjamin would have liked to EAT Freddie.
But he didn't quite dare to grab him for fear of getting burned by
Freddie's light.
If that was so, then it was no wonder that Freddie kept flashing his
light in the dark. And it was lucky that he had a light, because--like
Benjamin Bat himself--he was a night-prowler.
Unlike Farmer Green, Freddie believed that the night air was very
healthful. And together with all his family, he thought that a damp
place was much to be preferred to a dry one.
He often remarked that the pollen upon which he frequently dined tasted
best when the dew was upon it. And he never could understand why Buster
Bumblebee's sisters, the ill-tempered workers, always gathered nectar
for their honey-making in the daytime.
"Everyone to his own taste!" Freddie sometimes said. "And I suppose that
those who sleep from sunset to dawn don't know what they're missing."
Johnnie Green, who went to bed almost as early as the Bumblebee family,
couldn't help envying Freddie Firefly and all his sprightly company.
Johnnie thought it must be great fun to frolic the whole night long--if
only Solomon Owl wouldn't scare a person half out of his wits with that
unearthly hooting of which Solomon was so fond.
But you may be sure that Freddie Firefly never bothered HIS head over
Solomon Owl. Perhaps he knew that Solomon was too busy hunting for mice
to take notice of anybody so small as he was, even if he did carry a
bright light everywhere he went.
II
A FINE PLAN
Chirpy Cricket was one of Freddie Firefly's neighbors. He was a good
neighbor for anybody to have, too, because he was one of the most
cheerful of all the field and forest-folk that lived in Pleasant Valley.
Freddie Firefly liked him. And he often remarked that he would rather
hear Chirpy Cricket sing than sing himself.
Since he was so fond of hearing Chirpy's songs, it was lucky for Freddie
that his sprightly neighbor usually chose to sing at night, when Freddie
could better enjoy his shrill ditty. And Freddie frequently went out of
his way on a fine, dark, summer's night to find Chirpy Cricket and thank
him for his kindness.
At such times Chirpy Cricket always smiled mysteriously, saying "I'm
glad my voice pleases you." But it must be confessed that he was not
singing for Freddie Firefly's benefit at all. He was singing for his own
entertainment--and maybe to please some lady of his acquaintance as
well. And he chose night time for his chirping because he didn't dare
sing during the day. He knew that after sunset almost all the birds were
asleep--except for Solomon Owl and Willie Whip-poor-will and a few other
feathered folk who preferred the dark to the daylight. They were not so
numerous that they worried Chirpy very much. But between dawn and sunset
there were altogether too many birds awake to please him. Then Chirpy
Cricket kept quite silent. He didn't wish to draw attention to himself
by singing, because he didn't care to be gobbled up by any bird, no
matter how handsome or hungry the bird might be.
Perhaps it is a wonder that Chirpy could be so cheerful as he was,
living under such difficulties as he did. But on the other hand, maybe
he felt so carefree at night that he couldn't help being jolly.
Anyhow, he was always ready for a good time. And if there was no good
time at hand, usually Chirpy Cricket could think of some sort of frolic.
And so, at last, he hit upon the idea of a torchlight procession.
Somebody had told him that Farmer Green's family had seen such a parade
in the village one evening. And Chirpy Cricket saw no reason why he and
his friends should not enjoy one too, right there in the shadow of Blue
Mountain.
"What they can do in the village, we can do here!" he exclaimed. And
though it was still broad daylight--being not later than the middle of
the afternoon--Chirpy set out at once to find Freddie Firefly, because
he simply had to get Freddie to help him.
He found Freddie in the swampy part of the meadow, near the place where
the cat-tails grew. And though Freddie was a bit sleepy, he became wide
awake the moment he heard Chirpy Cricket's voice.
"I've thought of a fine plan!" Chirpy Cricket cried. "I'm going to have
a torchlight procession and I want you and all your family to take part
in it."
III
FREDDIE AGREES TO HELP
Never in all his life had Freddie Firefly heard of a torchlight
procession--nor of any other sort of procession, either. So when Chirpy
Cricket first mentioned his plan it was no wonder that Freddie looked
somewhat blank.
But when Chirpy explained that a procession was a parade, which meant
that you followed a leader--and a good many others--in a long line,
Freddie Firefly began to understand.
"I need you and a few hundred of your nearest relations to furnish the
lights," Chirpy Cricket continued. "And I wish you'd ask your whole
family to take part in the procession, for we really can't have too many
of you."
"When will the procession take place?" Freddie Firefly wanted to know.
"To-night, as soon as it's dark enough!" Chirpy told him.
"And where are we going to march?"
"Oh, all around the meadow!" said Chirpy Cricket. "The line will form
along the stone wall by the roadside. ... Do you think you'll be there?"
he inquired somewhat anxiously.
"You certainly can count on me," Freddie Firefly promised. "Of course, I
can't very well accept your invitation for more than about fifty-five of
my brothers--and maybe six dozen of my cousins. But I HOPE there'll be
more of us than that."
"Well, I hope so, too," Chirpy Cricket said. "But even if there were no
more than you can promise, we ought to have enough. Fifty-five and six
dozen make one hundred and twenty-seven; and you make one hundred and
twenty-eight."
"Yes," replied Freddie Firefly, though he thought it would have been
more polite had Chirpy Cricket counted him first instead of last, since
he was the first of his family to be invited. But he really couldn't be
angry with anyone so cheerful as Chirpy Cricket.
"I'll have to leave you now," Chirpy announced, "for I must be on my
way. I shall have to make a great many calls before sunset, because I
want to invite all my friends to join the procession. ... I'll see you
later," he said, as he turned away.
He had not gone far before he stopped and called to Freddie Firefly.
"Don't forget to bring your light with you to-night!" he cautioned him.
"I'll try not to!" Freddie shouted. But if the truth was known, he
couldn't have forgotten his light, even if he had wanted to! It was just
as much a part of him as his eyes or his six legs. But Chirpy Cricket
didn't seem to know that. And Freddie Firefly didn't choose to enlighten
him.
Then Chirpy Cricket hurried away. He went straight to the clover field,
because he wanted to ask Buster Bumblebee to take part in the torchlight
procession. And Chirpy knew that the clover field was the best place to
look for him, on account of Buster's being so fond of clover juice.
Reaching the field where the red clover grew, Chirpy began to hunt for
the biggest blossom of them all. And when he found it, there was Buster
Bumblebee, sitting on top of it and enjoying a hearty meal.
He listened, between sucks at the sweet juice, to Chirpy Cricket's
invitation. He seemed interested, too.
"What music are you going to have at your parade?" he inquired, for
Buster was very fond of music.
Chirpy Cricket replied that he hadn't thought much about that, but he
said he expected to sing.
Buster Bumblebee grunted when he heard that. To tell the truth, he
didn't care much for Chirpy's voice, which he considered altogether too
shrill.
"Are you going to take part in the procession?" Chirpy asked him.
"I'll let you know to-morrow," said Buster Bumblebee. "Ah, but that will
be too late!" Chirpy cried. "We're going to have the procession to-
night."
"To-night!" Buster exclaimed. "Then I can't come. For I shall be sound
asleep right after sunset."
IV
GETTING READY
Buster Bumblemee's mind was made up. Although Chirpy Cricket told him it
would be a shame for him to miss the torchlight procession, which was
sure to be a great success, because Freddie Firefly had promised to be
there with one hundred and twenty-seven of his relations, Buster still
shook his head.
"I wouldn't think of such a thing as staying out after dark!" he
declared with much firmness.
"But you ought to see the Firefly family when they're all lighted up!"
Chirpy Cricket cried.
"Are they as bright as the sun?" Buster asked.
"N-no--but they're brighter than some of the stars," Chirpy replied.
"Well, I don't care if they are," said Buster. "I need my rest at night.
And you'll have to get along without me, though of course, I'm much
obliged for the invitation."
Seeing that further urging was useless, Chirpy Cricket left Buster and
hurried away to find Jennie Junebug. And to his delight, she said at
once that she would be much pleased to attend the torchlight procession.
She did wish, however, that he had invited her earlier, because she
would have liked a new gown for the occasion.
"Oh, come just as you are!" said Chirpy Cricket.
"What! With my apron on?" Jennie Junebug exclaimed.
Chirpy Cricket went off laughing. Buster Bumblebee had caused him some
disappointment. But now he was feeling quite cheerful again.
As he went from place to place inviting his friends to come to the
torchlight procession that night, he found that a good many felt as
Buster Bumblebee did. They declined to break their life-long rule of
going early to bed. But there were others, such as Mr. Moses Mosquito,
Kiddie Katydid, and Mehitable Moth, who said at once that they were glad
he asked them and that they wouldn't miss the fun for anything.
Meanwhile Freddie Firefly was just as busy as Chirpy Cricket. And he had
somewhat better luck. For not only did fifty-five of his brothers and
six dozen of his cousins promise to take part in the procession--and
bring their lights, too--but at least three hundred others, including
some of Freddie's second and third cousins, agreed gladly to join in the
evening's sport.
So before dark Freddie sent a message to Chirpy Cricket by Greenie
Grasshopper, telling him that he might count on a big turnout of the
Firefly family.
That was good news. And Chirpy Cricket felt so happy that he began to
sing earlier in the evening than was his custom.
While it was still dusk he went to the stone wall where the procession
was to form. And of course he had to wait there a long time before the
first of the Firefly family appeared.
Even for a person as cheerful as Chirpy Cricket, it was hard to wait.
But he consoled himself by chirping his loudest.
"I suppose Freddie Firefly and all his relations are very busy getting
their lights ready," he thought.
At last, when it was quite dark, Freddie Firefly lighted on a head of
timothy grass close beside the stone wall and began to flash his light
right in Chirpy Cricket's face.
"Here I am, just as I promised!" he called.
V
AT THE STONE WALL
"Where's the rest of your crowd?" Chirpy Cricket asked Freddie Firefly,
when they met by the stone wall. "It's getting darker every minute. And
the torchlight procession ought to start right away."
"They're coming," said Freddie. "If you look sharp you can see them now,
crossing the meadow."
Chirpy Cricket tried to see through the blackness of the night. After
gazing steadily for a few moments he was able to make out a patch of
twinkling lights, which looked a good deal like stars, except that they
were too low. Since they kept growing brighter, Chirpy Cricket knew that
they must be moving towards him, and that many of the Firefly family had
accepted his invitation.
Soon a great host of Freddie's relations surrounded Chirpy Cricket. They
flashed their lights in his eyes, so that he was almost blinded by the
glare. And it was only with much difficulty that he could see Moses
Mosquito, Kiddie Katydid, and Mehitable Moth, who had also arrived by
that time.
"What are we going to do?" everybody asked Chirpy Cricket at the same
time. So there was nothing he could do but mount the wall and make a
speech.
"Friends--" he said, in his loudest voice--"I'm glad to see so many of
you present. Our torchlight procession is going to be an even greater
success than the one that Farmer Green went to see in the village--if
you'll only follow my directions."
"We will!" his listeners cried.
"Please don't ask us to march after dawn breaks, for we'll be ready for
bed by that time," Freddie Firefly interrupted.
"I understand," Chirpy Cricket replied. "And now this is what I want you
all to do: you must fall in line one behind another. And when
everybody's ready I'll take my place at the head of the procession and
lead you all around the farm, and right past Farmer Green's window,
too."
"Forming a line is going to be hard work," somebody objected.
But Chirpy Cricket arranged that matter simply enough.
"Just form your line along the stone wall" he directed them. "The wall
is straight enough. And to tell the truth, that's exactly why I told
Freddie that we'd meet here."
"But what about Moses Mosquito and Kiddie Katydid and Mehitable Moth?"
Freddie inquired somewhat anxiously.
"Well, what about them?" Chirpy asked him. "What do you mean?"
"They haven't brought any lights," Freddie pointed out. "So what's the
use of their being in the procession?"
"Oh, that's all right!" Chirpy Cricket assured him. "They're going to
carry the banners."
VI
THE BANNERS
When Chirpy Cricket mentioned "banners," Mehitable Moth, Kiddie Katydid,
and Moses Mosquito stepped forward with looks of pride on their faces--
so far as one could see their faces by the glimmer of the flashing
lights of the Firefly family. And at the same time Freddie Firefly
shouldered his way through the crowd and plucked at Chirpy Cricket's
sleeve.
"Don't you think--" he asked earnestly--"don't you think I ought to
carry one of the banners myself?"
"Perhaps so!" answered Chirpy Cricket. He was so taken aback that he
really didn't know what else to say. "Which one do you prefer?"
"I'd have to see them before I made a choice," Freddie Firefly told him
in a more hopeful tone.
So Chirpy ordered Kiddie Katydid and Moses and Mehitable to produce
their banners, which they had left leaning against the wall.
They brought them forth fearfully, each hoping that his--or hers--wasn't
going to be taken away and handed over to Freddie Firefly to carry in
the procession.
"Here are the banners!" Chirpy Cricket said to Freddie. "Which one do
you like best?"
Freddie looked at the banners and read them slowly, for he was not a
good reader.
The first that he examined was the one Moses Mosquito had brought. And
this is what it said:
WHY FUSS ABOUT A BITE, IF IT MAKES SOMEBODY ELSE HAPPY?
"I don't care for that one at all," Freddie Firefly announced. And he
turned then to Kiddie Katydid's banner, which he spelled out with a good
deal of trouble, because it was not so well printed.
This banner made the following announcement:
HONEST TO GOODNESS, I DIDN'T DO IT!
"Why, I don't know what that's all about!" Freddie exclaimed
impatiently. "Let me see the third one!" So he looked next at the banner
of Mehitable Moth, which seemed to please him better, as he read it
aloud:
DON'T WORRY, MRS. GREEN! I'LL CALL AT THE FARMHOUSE BEFORE FALL.
"That's better!" cried Freddie Firefly. "I'll carry this banner with a
great deal of pleasure. And I can call at the farmhouse to-night--if
Farmer Green's family doesn't go to bed too early."
But there was one difficulty about Freddie's plan. Mehitable Moth did
not like to have her banner, which she had made with great pains, taken
away from her like that. And she drew Chirpy Cricket to one side and
began talking to him in an undertone.
Soon he turned again to Freddie Firefly, saying, "She thinks that if
you're going to carry her banner in the procession you ought to let her
take your light."
"Oh, I can't do that!" Freddie exclaimed quickly. "I wouldn't THINK of
doing that!"
"It would be only fair, it seems to me," Chirpy Cricket observed.
"Well, I won't do it, anyhow," Freddie declared. "I'd stay out of the
procession first. And so would all my relations, too."
Chirpy Cricket began to look worried. And it was no wonder. For he knew
he could have no torchlight procession without the Firefly family. But
pretty soon he cheered up noticeably.
"I know what you can do!" he announced. "You can ride on top of
Mehitable Moth's banner and keep flashing your light on it!"
VII
THE TORCHLIGHT PARADE
At last the torchlight procession was about to begin its march. Chirpy
Cricket took his place at its head, as leader. And close behind him came
Mehitable Moth, gaily bearing her banner aloft, with Freddie Firefly
perched on top of it, and flashing his greenish-white light so that its
rays fell full upon the words, which told Farmer Green's wife not to
worry, because Mehitable Moth agreed to pay her a call before cold
weather set in.
It would be hard to say which was the prouder--the person under the
banner or the one on top of it. Anyhow, Chirpy Cricket was prouder than
both of them together, because his torchlight procession promised to be
a great success.
"Are you ready?" he cried, looking back at the marchers, who stretched
behind him in a long line beside the stone wall.
Everybody shouted "Aye, aye, sir!" So Chirpy Cricket pranced away across
the meadow, wearing a broad smile. Probably he had never before looked
quite so cheerful.
But he had not gone far before something happened that drove the smile
from his face, replacing it with a dark frown. He had glanced behind
him, because he wanted--quite naturally--to look at that long line of
lights twinkling through the night. And to his distress he saw that
Freddie Firefly's relations were flying helter-skelter in all
directions. They had bolted out of the line and were dancing off across
the meadow after a fashion that no torchlight procession ought to
follow.
"Stop! Stop!" Chirpy Cricket called.
Even as he spoke, as many as a dozen lights flashed past him and went
flittering on across the fields.
Really, the only ones besides Chirpy that had stayed in the line as they
should were Mehitable Moth, who still carried her banner right behind
him, and Freddie Firefly, who sat on top of the banner.
And even Freddie Firefly was becoming restless. When he saw his brothers
and cousins go dancing off in the dark he couldn't help wanting to dance
too.
"You'd better hurry!" he said to Chirpy Cricket. "Those fellows--" he
pointed to the dozen that had just passed them--"those fellows have got
ahead of you. And it looks to me very much as if you were out of line."
Chirpy Cricket stared at Freddie Firefly in astonishment.
"Do you think so?" he exclaimed. "I don't see how it happened."
"Neither do I!" Freddie Firefly said. "But if I'm to stay in the
procession I certainly can't sit on this banner any longer. And besides,
if I'm going to call on Farmer Green's wife I shall have to travel
faster than we're moving now."
Since they were then standing stock-still in the meadow, there was a
good deal of truth in what Freddie Firefly said.
"But you don't need to call on Mrs. Green!" Chirpy Cricket cried.
"That's not your banner, you know. It belongs to Mehitable Moth."
"I'm afraid Mrs. Green has heard I'm coming; and I don't want to
disappoint her," Freddie replied.
And then he sprang from his perch and went zigzagging away.
One might think that Chirpy Cricket would have been quite upset by the
breaking up of his torchlight procession. But being naturally cheerful,
he merely smiled and said that it was plain that the Fireflies were a
very flighty family.
VIII
BUSTER'S SCHEME
About the time summer was half gone, Buster Bumblebee's mother, the
Queen, began to worry. She was afraid her workers were not going to make
enough honey for her family's needs.
Then came a few days of steady rain, when the workers of the Bumblebee
family couldn't venture away from home, on account of getting their
wings wet. And of course the Queen was terribly upset.
"I don't know what to do!" she kept exclaiming. "The days are already
growing shorter. It's a pity the honeymakers can't work in the dark."
Buster Bumblebee happened to hear his mother talking in that fashion
with some of the older members of the family. And he spoke up at once
and said:
"I know of a plan that might help."
Nobody paid the slightest attention to his remark, because the whole
family thought that Buster was not only fat and lazy, but somewhat
stupid as well.
"I know of something you could do that would help," he persisted, in a
much louder voice. "The honey-makers could work after dark if you'd only
get the Firefly family to furnish lights for them."
A number of Buster's relations snickered when they heard his plan. It
struck them as being too silly for anything. But his mother, the Queen,
looked very thoughtful.
"I'm not sure but that this boy has a good idea," she observed, much to
the surprise of the others. "For a long time I've been waiting for him
to say something worth listening to. And now I do believe he has had a
happy thought at last." She turned to Buster. "How did you chance upon
this scheme?" she asked him.
"Oh, the notion just came to me. I didn't have to WORK, to think of it,"
Buster explained. And he wondered why everybody laughed.
You know, Buster Bumblebee was so lazy that he never would lift a finger
to do a stroke of work. And now the word "work" had a very funny sound,
coming from his mouth.
"How could we get the Firefly family to help us? Have you thought of a
way to do that?" Buster's mother said to her son.
"N-no, I haven't," he admitted. "But I'd go straight to Freddie Firefly
and tell him what's wanted."
"Suppose you do that, then," said the Queen.
"You wouldn't call that WORKING, would you?" Buster inquired anxiously.
Having long since promised himself that he would never work, of course
he didn't want to break his word.
His relations--that is, except his mother--couldn't help tittering when
Buster said that. But to tell the truth, they were beginning to be the
least bit jealous of Buster Bumblebee and his plan. When the Queen
frowned at them severely, each of them tried to look as if it had been
somebody else that laughed.
Then the Queen assured Buster that paying a call on a person couldn't be
said to be work.
"You go and talk with Freddie Firefly," she directed him, "and if your
plan proves to be a success, it will then be your turn to laugh at
others."
IX
FREDDIE'S PROMISE
Buster Bumblebee did not find Freddie Firefly very easily. It was a
sunny afternoon; and if Freddie was flashing his bright light, Buster
was unable to see it. But at last he spied Freddie eating a meal of
pollen in the meadow.