The Tale of Daddy Longlegs | Page 5

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 Mr. Chippy perched on the wild grapevine, Daddy told him what had happened. "Farmer Green must be deaf at times, the same as you are," little Mr. Chippy observed. "If I were you I'd write him a letter."
Daddy Longlegs pretended not to hear Mr. Chippy's suggestion. The truth was, being only a few months old Daddy did not know how to write. But of course he did not care to have Mr. Chippy know that.
Well, while he pondered upon the situation Daddy Longlegs changed his mind about working for Farmer Green. In the beginning he had not wanted to help with the harvesting. He had taken up Mrs. Ladybug's suggestion only to keep her quiet. But now, having found that going to work for Farmer Green was no easy matter to arrange, Daddy Longlegs began to long to do the very thing he had wished to avoid.
At last he decided that he would go over to the oat field at once and do what he could