3
The Ball
The next evening, at starlight, Captain Featherweight said it was time to begin preparations for the ball.
“The ballroom shall be the soft velvet lawn under the Linden tree, and we’ll dance by the light of the pale silver moon. But we’ll have to provide ourselves with fireflies too, in case a cloud should cover up the moon.
“So, Owly, you will please be diligent in catching fireflies between now and next Thursday evening, for I want thousands of them. So many fireflies, tied by gossamer threads to the lower branches of the Linden tree, will make us quite independent of the moon.
“And Lightning,” continued the Captain, “it shall be your duty to provide seats for the ladies, and I know of none more comfortable than fresh green moss-mounds. And we’ll arrange them in a circle around the Linden tree.
“And Tono, you will of course have charge of the music, and I want you to invite the butterflies to accompany the orchestra.”
“The butterflies’ soft minstrelsy
Shall tune our hearts to sweet accord,
But beetles, wasps, and bumblebees,