“I engaged Mr. Crow to take your invitation to Jolly Robin in the orchard and ask him to give it to you,” Long Bill informed his bewildered cousin.
“That’s just the way this invitation reached me yesterday!” Rusty explained.
“Ah! I see it all now,” said Long Bill. And he began to laugh merrily. “Mr. Crow’s poor memory is to blame for your mistake. He forgot to deliver the message last year. And he happened to remember it only yesterday. So the news reached you just twelve months too late.”
Although Long Bill Wren continued to laugh heartily, neither Mr. Frog nor Rusty could manage even a faint smile. Having expected a merry time and plenty to eat, they were both disappointed.
But Mr. Frog soon said that so far as he was concerned, he still had a singing-party that he could attend, so he didn’t feel sad very long. And, after all, Rusty was glad to see his cousin, Long Bill Wren. They had a pleasant chat together for almost an hour. And Long Bill invited Rusty to stay to dinner.
Rusty thanked him and said, no! he must hasten home, because he had to go to bed early, on account of having to awaken Farmer Green at dawn the next morning.
When he returned to the old cherry tree Rusty had to answer a good many questions. His wife wanted to know what had kept him so long, and what Mr. Frog said, and what color his new Sunday coat was going to be.
When she learned that her husband’s visit to the tailor had been all in vain, she looked very suspicious and said quickly:
“You haven’t been at a party, have you?”
“No, indeed!” Rusty Wren replied. “I haven’t gone to a party for more than a year.”