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Tale of Kiddie Katydid

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<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/cover.jpg" width-obs="260" height-obs="400" alt="Cover" title="Cover" /></div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/frontendpapers1.jpg" width-obs="523" height-obs="800" alt="Front Endpapers Left" title="Front Endpapers Left" /></div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/frontendpapers2.jpg" width-obs="513" height-obs="800" alt="Front Endpapers Right" title="Front Endpapers Right" /></div> <h1>THE TALE OF<br/> KIDDIE KATYDID</h1> <hr style="width: 65%;" /><div class='bbox'> <div class='center'><b><i>TUCK-ME-IN TALES</i></b><br/> <small>(Trademark Registered)</small><br/> <small>BY</small><br/> ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY<br/> <small>AUTHOR OF</small><br/> SLEEPY-TIME TALES<br/> <small>(Trademark Registered)</small><br/> ———————————</div> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Tuck-Me-In Tales"> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tale of Jolly Robin</span></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tale of Old Mr. Crow</span></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tale of Solomon Owl</span></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tale of Jasper Jay</span></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tale of Rusty Wren</span></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tale of Daddy Long-<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'legs'">Legs</ins></span></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tale of Kiddie Katydid</span></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tale of Buster Bumblebee</span></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tale of Freddie Firefly</span></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Tale of Betsy Butterfly</span></td></tr> </table></div> <br/></div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div class="figcenter"><SPAN name="front" id="front"></SPAN> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-f.jpg" width-obs="279" height-obs="400" alt="Kiddie Sees Benjamin Bat in Front of the Moon" title="Kiddie Sees Benjamin Bat in Front of the Moon" /> <span class="caption">Kiddie Sees Benjamin Bat in Front of the Moon</span></div> <div class='center'><i>Frontispiece</i>—(<i><SPAN href="#Page_71">Page 71</SPAN></i>)</div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div class='center'> TUCK-ME-IN TALES<br/> <small>(Trademark Registered)</small><br/>———————————</div> <h1>THE TALE OF<br/> KIDDIE<br/> KATYDID</h1> <h3>BY</h3> <h2>ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY</h2> <div class='center'> <small>Author of</small><br/> "SLEEPY-TIME TALES"<br/> <small>(Trademark Registered)</small><br/> <br/><br/> <small>ILLUSTRATED BY</small><br/> HARRY L. SMITH<br/> <br/><br/><br/> NEW YORK<br/> <big>GROSSET & DUNLAP</big><br/> PUBLISHERS<br/> <small>Made in the United States of America</small><br/></div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div class='center'> <small>Copyright, 1918, by</small><br/> <small>GROSSET & DUNLAP</small><br/></div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>CONTENTS</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> <tr><td align='left' colspan='2'><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td align='center'><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Great Secret</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_1">1</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Warning</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_6">6</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Mr. Nighthawk</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_10">10</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Whining Caller</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_15">15</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Solomon Owl's Cry</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_20">20</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Freddie Firefly's Discovery</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_26">26</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Freddie Wants to Tell</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_31">31</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Spreading the News</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_36">36</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Mr. Frog Is Pleased</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_40">40</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Pair of Rascals</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_45">45</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Change in the Weather</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_51">51</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Present for Kiddie</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_55">55</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Kiddie Katydid Is Shy</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_60">60</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Kiddie Keeps His Promise</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_65">65</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Benjamin Bat's Plan</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_70">70</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XVI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Noisy Crowd</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_75">75</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XVII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Kitty Did!</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_79">79</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XVIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Two Grasshoppers</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_85">85</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XIX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Quarrel</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_89">89</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Stranger's Message</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_94">94</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XXI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Leaper the Locust Is Worried</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_99">99</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XXII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Short-Horns Arrive</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_104">104</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='right'>XXIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Best of Friends</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_110">110</SPAN></td></tr> </table></div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="List of Illustrations"> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Kiddie Sees Benjamin Bat in Front of the Moon</span></td><td align='right'>     <SPAN href="#front"><i>Frontispiece</i></SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='right'><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Kiddie's Secret is Discovered by Freddie Firefly</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_28">28</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Kiddie Took His New Coat from the Twig</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_59">59</SPAN></td></tr> <tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Kiddie Faced Leaper the Locust</span></td><td align='right'><SPAN href="#Page_90">90</SPAN></td></tr> </table></div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THE TALE OF KIDDIE<br/> KATYDID</h2> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>I</h2> <h3>A GREAT SECRET</h3> <p>Whoever Katy was, and whatever she might have done, nobody in Pleasant Valley knew anything about her except Kiddie Katydid and his numerous and noisy family.</p> <p>To be sure, many of the wild folk—and the people in the farmhouse, too—remembered hearing her name mentioned the year before.</p> <p>But they had quite forgotten about her, until August came and Kiddie Katydid<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</SPAN></span> and his relations brought her to their minds once more.</p> <p>Each night the Katydids' rasping chant was repeated again and again: <i>Katy did, Katy did; she did, she did!</i> But since in any crowd there are always a few that want to be different from the rest, now and then some member of Kiddie's clan insisted that Katy didn't—somewhat in this fashion: <i>Katy did, Katy did; she did, she didn't!</i></p> <p>However, there were always so many others to drown any such puzzling statement with their shrill clamor that Katy really <i>did</i> do it (whatever it was!) that nobody paid much attention to those few who didn't quite agree.</p> <p>On warm, dry, midsummer nights the Katydids all made a terrific racket. But there wasn't one of them that outdid Kiddie. He always had the best time<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</SPAN></span> when he was making the most noise. And since he liked to station himself in a tree near Farmer Green's house, his uproar often rose plainly above that of the other Katydids.</p> <p>Lying in bed in his little room under the eaves, Johnnie Green sometimes wished that Kiddie would keep quiet long enough to let him go to sleep in peace.</p> <p>To be sure, the balmy breezes wafted many other night sounds through Johnnie's open window. From near-by came Chirpy Cricket's cheerful piping. And in the distant swamp the musical Frog family held a singing party every evening. Johnnie Green liked to hear them. But he objected strongly to the weird hooting and horrid laughter of Solomon Owl, who left the hemlock woods after dark to hunt for field mice.</p> <p>As for Kiddie Katydid, he paid little<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</SPAN></span> attention to any other of the night cries. No matter what anybody else said, he solemnly hurled back at him that neverending refrain, <i>Katy did, Katy did; she did, she did!</i></p> <p>You would have thought, if you had heard Kiddie, that somebody had disputed his statement. But such was not the case at all. Since no one except the Katydids knew anything about the mysterious Katy, nobody was able to say truthfully that she <i>didn't</i> do it. In fact, the whole affair was a great secret, so far as outsiders were concerned. And one night Johnnie Green even thrust his head out of the window and cried impatiently:</p> <p>"All right! All right! I admit that Katy did it. And now do please keep still!"</p> <p>Of course, his plea failed to silence Kiddie Katydid. But it relieved Johnnie<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</SPAN></span> Green's mind and made him feel better, anyhow.</p> <p>Kiddie told his own people about Johnnie's outburst. And they all agreed that it was a rude thing to do.</p> <p>"Doesn't he know," they asked, "that the night belongs to us?"<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</SPAN></span></p> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>II</h2> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />

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