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  TUCK-ME-IN TALES
  (Trademark Registered)

THE TALE OF FREDDIE FIREFLY

BY

  ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
  Author of
  "SLEEPY-TIME TALES"
  (Trademark Registered).

ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY L. SMITH

NEW YORK

1918

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. A MERRY DANCER II. A FINE PLAN III. FREDDIE AGREES TO HELP IV. GETTING READY V. AT THE STONE WALL VI. THE BANNERS VII. THE TORCHLIGHT PARADE VIII. BUSTER'S SCHEME IX. FREDDIE'S PROMISE X. DRAWING LOTS XI. PEPPERY POLLY XII. A TERRIBLE SONG XIII. CAUGHT BY A THISTLE XIV. JENNIE JUNEBUG XV. THE FAT LADY'S SECRET XVI. FREDDIE'S ESCAPE XVII. BAD BENJAMIN BAT XVIII. PLEASING FARMER GREEN XIX. BENJAMIN FEELS GUILTY XX. MRS. LADYBUG'S ADVICE XXI. ALL ABOUT TRAINS XXII. WORK ON THE RAILROAD XXIII. WHY FREDDIE WAS GLAD

ILLUSTRATIONS

YOU'RE TERRIBLY CARELESS WITH THAT
LIGHT OF YOURS . . . Frontispiece

FREDDIE SAT ON TOP OF THE BANNER

FREDDIE PLAYS A JOKE ON PEPPERY POLLY BUMBLEBEE

FREDDIE WAS BUMPED INTO BY JENNIE JUNEBUG

THE TALE OF FREDDIE FIREFLY

I

A MERRY DANCER

Nobody in Pleasant Valley ever paid any attention to Freddie Firefly inthe daytime. But on warm, and especially on dark summer nights he alwaysappeared at his best. Then he went gaily flitting through the meadows.And sometimes he even danced right in Farmer Green's dooryard, togetherwith a hundred or two of his nearest relations.

No one could help noticing those sprightly revelers, flashing theirgreenish-white lights through the gloom. And many of the field people,as well as the folk that lived in the farmhouse, thought that thedancers made a pretty sight.

But there were others who said that the Firefly family might better bespending their time in some more serious way.

Benjamin Bat, who lived in Cedar Swamp, was one of those who found faultwith the merry dancers. He grumbled a good deal about them—andespecially about Freddie Firefly.

"He's so proud of that light he carries!" Benjamin often exclaimed,"Now, if he could hang by his feet from the limb of a tree—and SLEEP atthe same time—he'd have something to boast of!"

No doubt Benjamin Bat was jealous. Anyhow, Solomon Owl declared that
there was still another reason why Benjamin did not like Freddie
Firefly. Solomon claimed that Benjamin would have liked to EAT Freddie.
But he didn't quite dare to grab him for fear of getting burned by
Freddie's light.

If that was so, then it was no wonder that Freddie kept flashing hislight in the dark. And it was lucky that he had a light, because—likeBenjamin Bat himself—he was a night-prowler.

Unlike Farmer Green, Freddie believed that the night air was veryhealthful. And together with all his family, he thought that a dampplace was much to be preferred to a dry one.

He often remarked that the pollen upon which he frequently dined tastedbest when the dew was upon it. A

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