The Cheerful Cricket and Others | Page 5

happened to him. All day long the wind had been blowing
very hard, and Stingy had to rebuild a great many cobwebs that were
blown down. Suddenly he started up. Something was struggling in his
web. What do you suppose it was? Nothing less than a beautiful little
yellow-winged moth that was caught and was beating his wings and
fluttering to get out. Stingy rose slowly and moved his humpy

shoulders toward the moth. Quietly he stole on and in a minute more
the moth would be choked to death. On, on went Stingy, the tiny
yellow moth fluttering more and more feebly. But just at the moment
Stingy was almost on the moth, a beak ripped open the web and Stingy
went tumbling to the ground while the yellow moth fluttered away
toward the waxy white flowers of the nearest syringa bush. The moth
had time to see Hummy go whirring off, and that night she told the
fireflies and glow-worms and other moths all about it. And each one
had some other good deed of Hummy's to relate.
But perhaps you would like to know what became of Stingy? When the
web was broken and he tumbled to the ground, he fell into the open
mouth of the Frisky Frog, who gave a comfortable croak as he
swallowed him. Nobody was sorry that Stingy was swallowed. Mrs.
Cricky said it served him right, but then, poor Mrs. Cricky's good
wishes were often lost in anxiety, lest harm should come to one of her
own little Cricketses, for Stingy, fifteen days before, had been known
to smother and eat a little cricket not more than a minute old. Mrs.
Cricky herself would probably have been the last person to hurt Stingy,
only she could not help feeling relieved; she said it wasn't in
cricket-nature to feel otherwise.
Father Cricky was usually too busy singing songs for the Marsh Grass
Vesper Quartette to make remarks. But this time he agreed with Mrs.
Cricky and said they would all better have their evening song and go to
sleep. And this was the song they sang:
Lullabye
Not too fast Come, see where the night winds sleep And the dews fall
on the ground, While the trees a-rustling keep, And the stars turn round
and round. There little frogs leap and croak, And little eels slip and
slide, And the crabs lie still and soak, While the marsh is singing wide.
The sand hills sleep 'neath the moon And blink away at the sea, While
they sing a little sand tune Which is plain as plain can be.
Lullabye, Sleep away, Say, my little one, Bye-bye to the day.

THE MARSH GRASS VESPER QUARTETTE

It was toward evening, and the Marsh Grass Vesper Quartette was
seated at the edge of Shiner Pond. The Quartette always gathered here
about dusk upon a broad flat toad-stool which grew at the foot of a
spreading oak. Mr. Tree Toad Todson had leased this toad-stool for the
summer season from his first cousin, the unfortunate Toadie Todson.
From pieces of straw he had built up to the edge of it a short flight of
steps so that Miss K. T. Did, their first soprano, found it easy to mount
to the platform.
To-night was a special evening and the attendance was large. Out on
the pond the Snapping Turtles were moving swiftly from one log to
another, bearing upon their backs groups of Fireflies. The Fireflies
were there in numbers this night, because one of the selections on the
program was a "Firefly Dance," composed by Mr. Frisky Frog, and to
be danced by Miss K. T. Did. The other members of the Quartette were
to sing the song while Miss Katy danced. It spoiled the effect
somewhat to lose her clear high soprano, but Mr. Tree Toad Todson
filled in with his penetrating tenor, and it was rumored that the
Composition would be a great success.
As nearly as I can remember it, this was the program for that evening.
_Sixth Annual In-Season Out of Door Concert
of
The Marsh Grass Vesper Quartette_
June the twenty-sixth,
Nineteen-hundred-and-six
Shiner Pond Pavilion
Members Miss K. T. Did.... Soprano Mr. Tree Toad Todson.... Tenor
Mr. Cricky... Baritone Mr. Frisky Frog, 3d... Bass Assisted by Miss
Glo Worm Mr. Fiah Fli, Jr.
------------------------- PROGRAM
I. A Warm Night Herr June Bug Rendered by Mr. Cricky II. The Firefly
Dance Mr. Frisky Frog Danced by Miss K. T. Did III. The Moonbeam
Song Miss Glo Worm (Intermission) IV. A Lullabye Mr. T. Toad
Todson Mr. T. Toad Todson Assisted by Mrs. Frisky Frog V. A Lament
Mr. T. Toad Todson (In memory of Toadie Todson) Sung by T. Toad
Todson VI. Mosquito Aria Mr. Cricky Sung by Miss K. T. Did

VII.