To my Mother and Father this little book is lovingly dedicated

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I.In the Old Willow Tree[3]
II.Two Funny Gentlemen and What They Said[13]
III.Ruth and the Wonderful Spinners[33]
IV.Mrs. Mosquito and Her Kin[51]
V.Ruth Hears About Some Water Babies[64]
VI.Ruth Goes to a Concert[82]
VII.Ruth Meets All Sorts and Conditions[100]
VIII.Mrs. Tumble Bug and Others[118]
IX.Little Mischief Makers[134]
X.Some Queer Little People[148]
XI.Wise Folks and Fiery Ones[159]
XII.The Honey Makers[180]
XIII.The Most Beautiful of All[197]
XIV.Real Fairies[212]

ILLUSTRATIONS

“‘I feel the wind,’ cried Ruth, with bright eyes. ‘Dear voice, are you the Wind?’”[Frontispiece]
PAGE
“‘Sometimes it seems as if it must be Fairyland all around, only I’m deaf’”[8]
“Ruth, holding Belinda tightly, drew close to the edge of the brook”[14]
“‘How’s that?’ and with a splash a big green and brown frog landed on the stone at her feet”[15]
“‘I am a frog, of course, but my family name is Rana’”[16]
“That nice fat toad in the garden”[18]
“‘I didn’t move, but my tongue did’”[19]
“‘I was soon swimming about with a lot of other tads, slapping tails, and having all kinds of fun’”[23]
“A loud splash and Mr. Rana’s long legs disappeared in the brook”[24]
“‘I’m right over here in the shade’”[25]
“‘The mother spins the cocoon of silk from her own body’”[38]
“‘Why, it’s Daddy Long Legs’”[46]
“‘I made one of these pits and in the funnel end I lay in wait for ants’”[76]
The wise grasshopper[88]
“‘My friends, there are ants and ants’”[160]
“‘Then there are ants who keep slaves’”[162]
“‘Then there are ants who cut pieces from green leaves and carry them as parasols’”[163]
The house of the mound-builder ant[165]
“Vespa Maculata”[170]
The Queen Bee and her bodyguard of drones[187]
“‘Smart children, aren’t they?’ asked some moths”[203]
“‘I am the moon moth, the Luna’”[213]

THE REAL FAIRY FOLK