The Tale of Betsy Butterfly | Page 5

Betsy in the morning," Mrs. Ladybug promised herself
savagely. "I'll make it my business to follow her everywhere she goes,
until I've given her a good talking to."

VI
MRS. LADYBUG'S ADVICE
LITTLE did Betsy Butterfly guess what Mrs. Ladybug intended to say
to her. And if she had known what it was she would have been merely
amused. For Betsy was entirely too sweet-tempered to take offense at
anybody's fault-finding--least of all that of Mrs. Ladybug, who was
really a good-hearted soul, when she wasn't jealous. And when Betsy
went to the flower garden early the next morning she felt kindly
towards the whole world, not even excepting Johnnie Green, though he
had tried to capture her.
Well, Mrs. Ladybug was waiting for Betsy Butterfly among the flowers.
She had been in such haste to reach the garden early that she had not
stopped to have her breakfast. And like many people who have not
drunk their morning cup of coffee, she was in a very peevish mood.
"Now, Miss Pert, I want you to listen to me!" That was Mrs. Ladybug's
greeting to Betsy Butterfly on one of the most delightful days of the
whole summer. "It's my unpleasant duty--" said Mrs. Ladybug, who by
that time was enjoying herself thoroughly--"it's my unpleasant duty to
tell you that people are talking about you. They say that you're going
about covered with dust! And as a friend, I advise you to give yourself
a thorough brushing each morning, and as often thereafter as may be
necessary."
Betsy Butterfly had listened in amazement to Mrs. Ladybug's words.
And she had hard work not to laugh, too, because she thought Mrs.
Ladybug's advice decidedly funny.
"Thank you very much!" Betsy said most politely. "I'll remember what
you've told me."
Somehow Mrs. Ladybug thought that Betsy meant she would follow
her advice. And she looked quite pleased.
"I shall expect a great improvement in your appearance the next time I

see you," she announced. And with the manner of a person who has just
done somebody a good turn she hurried away to get the breakfast that
was waiting for her, somewhere.
Then Betsy Butterfly enjoyed a good laugh.
"How ridiculous!" she said to herself. "But I won't tell Mrs. Ladybug of
her mistake, because she might feel upset if I did." And you can see,
just by that, how kind-hearted Betsy was. She did not even tell her own
family about the joke, for fear of hurting Mrs. Ladybug's feelings.
But jealous little Mrs. Ladybug had no such misgivings. She went out
of her way to explain to people that if they noticed a change in Betsy
Butterfly's appearance, they might thank her for it.... "I told Betsy that
she ought to brush the dust off herself," she informed her friends.
Naturally she was displeased when she met Betsy that very afternoon
and saw that the dust still lay thick on her wings.
"I believe you actually want to be untidy!" Mrs. Ladybug cried. "And if
you aren't going to brush that dust off, I shall do it myself!" And
grasping a small Indian paint-brush, the weight of which she could
scarcely stagger under, Mrs. Ladybug advanced upon Betsy Butterfly
with a determined look in her eye.
"Oh, don't do that!" cried Betsy.
"It's my painful duty to give you a thorough dusting," Mrs. Ladybug
declared.

VII
BUTTERFLY BILL
NOW, a crowd had gathered quickly around Betsy Butterfly and Mrs.
Ladybug; for the field people are quick to notice anything unusual. And
a sprightly young cousin of Betsy's known as Butterfly Bill said to Mrs.

Ladybug, with a wink at everybody else:
"I suppose you'll dust the rest of us, too?"
"Only those that need it!" replied Mrs. Ladybug.
"Then you'll have your hands full," Butterfly Bill told her. "Maybe you
haven't noticed that every member of the Butterfly family in Pleasant
Valley is covered with dust just as Betsy is."
Mrs. Ladybug looked surprised.
"Is that so?" she said faintly.
"It certainly is!" Bill cried. "Maybe you never knew that the dust is
what gives us our--ahem--our beautiful colors," he added proudly.
"And I warn you that if you so much as touch my lovely cousin with
that brush you'll have every one of us fellows in your hair."
Of course poor Mrs. Ladybug was quite bald. But she knew what
Butterfly Bill meant. And she was so upset that she promptly let the
paint-brush fall to the ground.
Then Betsy's cousin nodded approvingly.
"Now you'd better hurry home," he told Mrs. Ladybug. "There's a
rumor around the meadow that your house is on fire. And they say your
children are in great danger."
Little Mrs. Ladybug at once fell to weeping.
"It's that horrid Freddie Firefly!" she shrieked. "I've told him