The Tale of Freddie Firefly Part 4

Not until the next morning did he know how his plan had turned out. And since it proved to be less successful than he had expected, perhaps it was just as well that he was not present to hear the remarks that were made about him.

Even Freddie Firefly said things about Buster that night that would not have been at all pleasant to listen to.

X

DRAWING LOTS

Buster b.u.mblebee's mother told her forty-nine honey-makers that Freddie Firefly and at least forty-eight of his relations were expected at the b.u.mblebees' house at dusk.

"Each of the Fireflies will furnish each of you with a light," the Queen explained, "so you'll be able to go to the clover field almost as easily as you do in the daytime. You're to work until midnight. And after that you may sleep until the trumpeter wakes you at dawn."

The Queen's announcement did not please the honey-makers in the least.

They were an ill-tempered lot, anyhow. And when things did not go to suit them they sometimes made themselves most disagreeable.

Of course they didn't dare grumble in the Queen's hearing. But behind her back they spoke their minds quite freely.

"It's all the fault of that boy Buster," they told one another. "If he hadn't suggested his horrid plan to his mother we wouldn't have to work half the night and lose half our sleep."

"I wish he was here now!" one of the honey-makers exclaimed fiercely.

"I'd make it hot for him!"

Usually the honey-makers began to grow very drowsy at that time of day (it was then late in the afternoon). But now they were so angry that they were not the least bit sleepy. Their own buzzing kept them awake.

And the Queen was glad that it was so, because she herself never could have stopped so many of them from going to sleep. And even then, if the truth must be known, the Queen wished that she might go to bed. Never in all her life had she been up so late before.

"I wish the Fireflies would hurry!" she exclaimed as she stood at the front-door of her house and looked across the fast darkening field.

As she watched anxiously, the Queen soon spied a light, which kept growing brighter and brighter, until at last Freddie Firefly dropped down before her. He took off his cap and made a low bow.

"Here I am, Queen!" he said.

"Where's the rest of your family?" Buster b.u.mblebee's mother asked him.

"They all had to go to a dance down by the swamp," Freddie Firefly explained. "They wanted me to go with them; but I had promised your son that I'd be here at dusk. And of course I wouldn't think of breaking my promise."

Well, the Queen was terribly disappointed.

"You never can furnish enough light for my forty-nine workers!" she cried.

"Perhaps not!" Freddie admitted. "But I'd be glad to take one of them to the clover-patch to-night, just as a trial, you know."

The Queen said that that was a good idea. And the honey-makers, who had come outside the house, all agreed that it was a fine suggestion. But not one of them wanted to go with Freddie.

"Then you'll have to draw lots," the Queen told them severely.

When the honey-makers heard that, one of them tried to slip away. But the Queen saw her and called her back.

Then they drew lots. And strange to say, the worker who had tried to escape proved to be the unlucky one who was doomed to go to the clover field with Freddie Firefly and gather clover nectar until midnight.

Unluckily for Freddie, she was the worst-tempered person in the whole b.u.mblebee household. And when she saw that she alone of the whole family was going to lose half her night's sleep you may be sure she felt very surly.

Freddie noticed a wicked gleam in her eyes. And he began to wish he had gone to the dance over near the swamp.

XI

PEPPERY POLLY

Freddie Firefly felt quite uncomfortable as he started off toward the clover field, together with the angry honey-maker. It had not made him feel any more at ease when the Queen of the b.u.mblebees told him the worker's name. It was Peppery Polly.

"Don't go too fast!" Peppery Polly told Freddie Firefly. "And I'll tell you now that I'll make it warm for you if you try to play any tricks on me to-night."

As a matter of fact, Freddie hadn't thought of such a thing as playing a single trick on her. But Peppery Polly's warning at once put that very idea into his head. So he began to try to think of a good joke that would bother her. And before they had crossed the meadow Freddie Firefly turned to Peppery Polly b.u.mblebee and said:

"That light off there must be in the farmhouse."

Now, never having been out at night before, his companion wanted to see all the strange sights. So she stopped at once and looked around.

"How bright the light is!" she said. "Are you sure the farmhouse isn't on fire?"

Not receiving any answer, she turned her head. And to her dismay, she couldn't see Freddie Firefly anywhere.

"Oh! Oh! Where are you?" she cried. She was terribly frightened to be left alone in the dark. "Come back--please come back!" she begged.

"Why, here I am!" said Freddie Firefly.

And wheeling about quickly, Peppery Polly found him clinging to a blade of gra.s.s right behind her.

Freddie had been hiding under a plantain leaf, so that she couldn't see his light. But Peppery Polly didn't know what had happened.

"Did your light go out?" she inquired anxiously.

"If it did, I never noticed it," he replied.

"Well, don't you dare to leave me alone, no matter what happens!"

Peppery Polly b.u.mblebee cried. "If you did, I'd never be able to find my way home in the dark."

"Don't worry!" Freddie said. "You're perfectly safe with me. ... What I'm wondering is whether I'm perfectly safe with you."

"You are--so long as you behave yourself," she declared. "But remember!

I'll make it hot for you if you try any tricks on me! Don't forget that I carry a sting! And what's more, I know how to use it."

Her threat, however, failed to frighten Freddie Firefly. As soon as he saw that his companion was afraid of the dark, he ceased to be afraid of her. So he flashed his light impudently in her eyes.