The Tale of Daddy Longlegs | Page 5

said that was true, Jasper Jay didn't quite
dare object.
But it was plain that he didn't agree with the company. And he stamped
his feet and clashed his bill together and shook his head as if he were
much displeased.
He, too, began to believe--with his cousin, Mr. Crow--that Daddy

Longlegs and all the others were on Farmer Green's side.

VI
MRS. LADYBUG'S PLAN
DADDY LONGLEGS' neighbors took an even greater interest in him,
after his contest with Mr. Crow. And much to Daddy's distress they
tried harder than before to pry into his private affairs.
But those curious busybodies learned very little. In fact there was only
one of them who really found out anything about Daddy that was worth
knowing.
Little Mrs. Ladybug, who was somewhat of a gossip, discovered in
some way that Daddy Longlegs was a harvestman. And she lost no
time in spreading the news far and wide. She even travelled as far as
the big poplar, to tell Whiteface, the Carpenter Bee, what she had
heard.
"A harvestman, eh?" said the Carpenter, thrusting his hands into the
pockets of his apron. "If that's so, why doesn't he go to work?" And
without waiting for an answer he dodged quickly inside his house. He
was building an addition to his home; and naturally he was quite busy.
He knew, too, that Mrs. Ladybug was a terrible talker.
"I declare, I hadn't thought of that!" Mrs. Ladybug exclaimed. And then
she hastened to the stone wall to find Daddy Longlegs and learn the
answer to the Carpenter's question.
Mrs. Ladybug soon spied Daddy, coming from the orchard near-by.
And since she saw him before he saw her, he had no chance to hide. He
was sorry; for he just knew--from the look in her eye--that she was
going to ask him a question. And sure enough, she did!
"You're a harvestman," she began, quite out of breath from hurrying.
"Why don't you go to work?"

"What can I do?" Daddy inquired with a blank look.
"Do!" she exclaimed. "I should think Farmer Green would be glad to
have your help in harvesting his crops. He's mowing his oats now. And
there's no one to help him except the hired man--unless you count
Johnnie, and he spends most of his time at the swimming-hole."
Daddy Longlegs thanked Mrs. Ladybug politely for her suggestion. But
he said that he was not acquainted with Farmer Green. And he disliked
working for strangers. And he thought he would spend the rest of the
summer making friends with his neighbors.
"Next year," he told her, "I may make some arrangement with Farmer
Green to work for him regularly."
But that answer did not satisfy little Mrs. Ladybug in the least.
"You'd be far better off with something steady to do," she insisted. And
she said so much that just to get rid of her Daddy Longlegs promised to
see Farmer Green at once and offer his services.
He was sorry, as soon as she had gone, that he had agreed to do that.
But being a person of his word he never once thought of not keeping
his promise, though he wished he had simply put his hand behind his
ear and not answered Mrs. Ladybug's question at all.
But it was too late, then, to do that.

VII
TRYING TO HELP
IT was true that Farmer Green had almost more work than he could do
just then, even with the aid of the hired man and Johnnie. And he often
wished that he might find somebody else to help him.
"I'd hire anybody I could find that had two legs," he remarked to his

wife as he started away from the house after finishing his dinner. "I
want to get the oats harvested before there's a rain. And I don't like the
looks of the sky to-day."
Now, Daddy Longlegs reached the farmhouse just in time to hear what
Farmer Green said. And he spoke up at once--as loudly as he could.
"I'd be willing to work for you," he said. "I'm a harvestman. And you
ought to be glad to hire me, for I have eight legs instead of only two."
Perhaps Daddy's voice was too thin and high for Farmer Green to hear.
Anyhow, he paid not the slightest heed to Daddy's offer, but strode off
across the farmyard while his caller cried "Stop! Please stop!" at the top
of his lungs.
Then Daddy heard a noise, which he was sure was thunder--though it
was only Farmer Green calling to the hired man to hurry.
"Well, I've tried to go to work, anyhow," Daddy Longlegs assured
himself. "And if the oats get wet Farmer Green can't blame me."
He went back to the stone wall then. And seeing