LITTLE Mrs. Ladybug had a disappointment when she reached the farmhouse.

She found, to her dismay, that she couldn't get inside it; for wire screens blocked her way through both doors and windows. And n.o.body paid the slightest attention to her when she stopped at the b.u.t.tery window and asked if she couldn't please have a bit of b.u.t.ter.

There was plenty of golden b.u.t.ter right there in plain sight, since it happened to be churning day. And Farmer Green's wife, with her sleeves rolled above her elbows, was working busily on the other side of the window screen.

"I should think she might easily spare me a small sample!" Mrs. Ladybug cried at last. "I'm afraid Farmer Green's wife is stingy."

Mrs. Ladybug hoped that Johnnie Green's mother would hear her remark.

But she didn't. And in the end Mrs. Ladybug had to fly away with her longing for b.u.t.ter still unsatisfied.

Meanwhile Betsy b.u.t.terfly had been amusing herself in the meadow to her heart's content. To tell the truth, it was rather a relief to be rid of Mrs. Ladybug's society for so long a time. And Betsy hoped that Mrs.

Ladybug's errand to the farmhouse would keep that busybody engaged for the rest of the day.

Now, after she left the farmhouse Mrs. Ladybug set out to find Betsy b.u.t.terfly again. But meeting Daddy Longlegs near the stone wall, she stopped to gossip with him, telling him how she had learned that she liked b.u.t.ter, and explaining that she had not yet tasted any.

"So you looked into a b.u.t.tercup to find out, eh?" said Daddy Longlegs.

"I'll have to do that, myself. Maybe I've always liked b.u.t.ter, too, without knowing that I do."

"You can't tell till you try," Mrs. Ladybug remarked. "But you mustn't be too sure. You may be disappointed. There's Betsy b.u.t.terfly! She doesn't care for b.u.t.ter at all."

"Are you sure about that?" Daddy Longlegs inquired. "Really, I think you must be mistaken, for I saw her with her face just _buried_ in b.u.t.ter this very day."

At first Mrs. Ladybug looked at him in amazement. And then she grew very angry.

"Betsy b.u.t.terfly deceived me!" she cried in a shrill voice. "She was afraid that if I knew she ate b.u.t.ter she would have to share it with me.... I'd like to know where she gets her b.u.t.ter," Mrs. Ladybug mused.

"She was standing on some of Farmer Green's, when I saw her," Daddy Longlegs explained.

"Did she ask him for it?" Mrs. Ladybug demanded.

"I don't believe she did," he admitted. "I think she just took it."

A wicked gleam came into Mrs. Ladybug's eyes when she learned that. And she threw up her hands, exclaiming, "She steals! Betsy b.u.t.terfly steals b.u.t.ter! When the field people hear the news they won't think she's so fine." And then Mrs. Ladybug turned to Daddy Longlegs once more and demanded whether he knew of anything else that Betsy b.u.t.terfly was in the habit of taking from Farmer Green.

"Eggs!" he replied promptly.

"Eggs!" Mrs. Ladybug repeated after him. "Betsy b.u.t.terfly steals b.u.t.ter and eggs!"

And before Daddy Longlegs could stop her she had hurried away to spread the news far and wide.

X

THE NIGHT WATCH

LITTLE Mrs. Ladybug stopped everybody she met in the meadow and related how Betsy b.u.t.terfly was taking Farmer Green's b.u.t.ter--and his eggs, too--without asking his permission.

"She's going to get some of us into trouble," Mrs. Ladybug informed her neighbors. "Just as likely as not Farmer Green and his wife will think others are stealing from them. Why, I went to the farmhouse to-day and asked for a bit of b.u.t.ter. And what do you think? Mrs. Green pretended not to hear me! I thought it was queer, at the time. But now I know that she's angry with me. She must have missed some of her b.u.t.ter; and she thinks I'm the guilty party." Mrs. Ladybug shook her finger at her neighbors. "We'll have to do something to put a stop to Betsy b.u.t.terfly's thieving," she declared.

Jealous Mrs. Ladybug's story amazed all the field people. They could scarcely believe that anyone so beautiful and dainty as Betsy b.u.t.terfly would bemean herself by robbing Farmer Green--or anybody else. But Mrs.

Ladybug said that Daddy Longlegs had _seen_ Betsy with her face buried in Farmer Green's b.u.t.ter. And no one could doubt the word of so respectable a person as Daddy Longlegs.

"What steps do you think we ought to take to prevent Betsy from eating any more b.u.t.ter and eggs that don't belong to her?" asked the queen of the b.u.mblebee family.

"I think we ought to set a careful watch on her," said Mrs. Ladybug.

"I'm sure I don't see when she gets her stolen goods, because I've watched her very closely myself for some time. And I've seen her dine on nothing but flowers."

"Perhaps she goes to the farmhouse at night," Jennie Junebug suggested.

"That's a happy thought!" said Mrs. Ladybug approvingly. "We'll have to get Freddie Firefly to follow her about after dark."

So Mrs. Ladybug and her neighbors made arrangements with Freddie Firefly to have Betsy b.u.t.terfly spied upon that very night.

"I'll watch her till sunset," Mrs. Ladybug agreed. "And then _you_ must relieve me," she told Freddie. "Don't let her out of your sight until sunrise!" she warned him.

Freddie Firefly promised that he would be faithful to his trust. And later that afternoon, when the sun began to drop behind the mountains, he relieved Mrs. Ladybug, who had been spying upon Betsy ever since their talk earlier in the day.

"She's behaved herself fairly well so far," Mrs. Ladybug whispered to Freddie, as she prepared to fly home to her children. "But there's no knowing when she may start for the farmhouse. So you mustn't take your eyes off her all night long!"

"You can trust me," Freddie a.s.sured her. And then Mrs. Ladybug said good evening.

Freddie Firefly always claimed that that was the longest night he ever spent. And he said that if he had realized that he would have to stay in one place from sunset to dawn he never would have agreed to watch Betsy b.u.t.terfly.

For Betsy b.u.t.terfly went to sleep the moment the sun went down. Freddie had to remain for hours and hours where he could flash his light upon her. And all the while he knew that his whole family was having a delightful time dancing in the hollow over towards the swamp.

It was especially hard for Freddie because he could see the gay lights of the Fireflies twinkling through the dark.

But Betsy b.u.t.terfly knew nothing of his long vigil. She slept and slept the whole night long. And Freddie Firefly had to admit to himself, as he watched her, that she didn't _act_ like a robber in the least.

XI

A SLY ONE

WHEN Freddie Firefly reported to Mrs. Ladybug and her neighbors that Betsy b.u.t.terfly had taken neither b.u.t.ter nor eggs from Farmer Green during the night the field people were much puzzled.

"She's certainly a sly one!" Mrs. Ladybug exclaimed. "What do you think we ought to do now?" she asked Daddy Longlegs, who was supposed to be very old, and therefore very wise.

"I think you ought to warn her," he replied, after some thought. "You ought to tell Betsy b.u.t.terfly that she must stop pilfering."

"No doubt your advice is good," Mrs. Ladybug observed. "And I'll speak to Betsy this very morning.... You must come with me," she told Daddy.

"I naturally want to have a witness."