“I don’t blame you,” Buster Bumblebee told him. “I’ve often felt that way myself.”
V
A LIGHT IN THE DARK
Chirpy Cricket preferred the dark to the day. He was quite different from Jennie Junebug and Mehitable Moth, who dearly loved a light at night, and would dash joyously into any they saw.
There was only one light that Chirpy Cricket was always glad to see. He thought Freddie Firefly’s flashes looked very cheerful as they twinkled about the farmyard. And he often told Freddie that he would be willing to linger above ground in the daytime now and then, if only Freddie would stay with him and make merry with his light.
But Freddie Firefly knew enough to decline the invitation. He was well aware that nobody could see his light when the sun was shining. And he was afraid that other merrymakers in the farmyard might make matters far from merry for him. For Freddie Firefly feared all birds. At night he used his trusty light to frighten Mr. Nighthawk or Willie Whip-poor-will. But he didn’t intend to run any risk in the daytime, with Jolly Robin or Rusty Wren.
Chirpy Cricket soon saw that it was useless to try to get Freddie Firefly to enjoy an outing with him by daylight. So every night he spent as much time as he could in Freddie’s company.
If the truth were known, Chirpy Cricket wished that he had a light of his own. And he couldn’t help hoping that sooner or later Freddie Firefly would offer to lend him his.