Mrs. Ladybug's neighbors crowded about her, all asking the same question.
"No!" she admitted. "No, it wasn't." And then she made an astonishing confession. "I've never owned a house," she said. "I've never had one in all my life. I can't have a house. I couldn't get one that was big enough.
"I have so many children that I don't know what to do," said little Mrs. Ladybug.
XXI
PLANS FOR WINTER
It was almost fall. The nights—and some of the days—were chilly. Those that had spent the whole summer out of doors began to think about where they should pass the winter. Yet everybody was amazed by the news that Mrs. Ladybug spread broadcast. She said that she expected, soon, to go into winter quarters.
"Humph!" cried Daddy Longlegs' wife when she heard what Mrs. Ladybug was saying. "She never had any quarters, so far as anyone knows. Mrs. Ladybug hasn't been able to tear herself away from the orchard long enough to live anywhere except in the apple trees."
It was plain that Daddy Longlegs' wife didn't believe what Mrs. Ladybug was telling her neighbors. And there were many more folk that agreed with her.
Little Mrs. Ladybug smiled a knowing smile when she heard what her friends thought.