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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
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