CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I.Beauty and the Blossoms[1]
II.Johnnie Green's Net[6]
III.A Mishap[11]
IV.Busybodies[17]
V.No Joker[22]
VI.Mrs. Ladybug's Advice[27]
VII.Butterfly Bill[32]
VIII.Do You Like Butter?[37]
IX.Unexpected News[42]
X.The Night Watch[47]
XI.A Sly One[52]
XII.A Terrible Blunder[57]
XIII.The Friendly Stranger[63]
XIV.A Deep Plot[68]
XV.Joseph Bumble's Complaint[73]
XVI.Nothing but a Fraud[78]
XVII.Dusty's Difficulty[83]
XVIII.Solomon Owl's Idea[88]
XIX.A Bit of Luck[93]
XX.Something Seems Wrong[98]
XXI.A Strange Change[103]
XXII.The Skipper[110]

[p. 1]

THE TALE OF BETSY
BUTTERFLY

I

BEAUTY AND THE BLOSSOMS

Every one of the field people in Pleasant Valley, and the forest folk as well, was different from his neighbors. For instance, there was Jasper Jay. He was the noisiest chap for miles around. And there was Peter Mink. Without doubt he was the rudest and most rascally fellow in the whole district. Then there was Freddie Firefly, who was the brightest youngster on the farm—at least after dark, when his light flashed across the meadow.

[p. 2]So it went. One person was wiser than any of his neighbors; another was stupider; and somebody else was always hungrier. But there was one who was the loveliest. Not only was she beautiful to look upon. She was graceful in flight as well. When one saw her flittering among the flowers it was hard to say which was the daintier—the blossoms or Betsy Butterfly.

For that was her name. Whoever gave it to her might have chosen a prettier one. Betsy herself always said that she would have preferred Violet. In the first place, it was the name of a flower. And in the second, her red-and-brown mottled wings had violet tips.