y!" cried Ting-a-ling, reining up. "What are you doing
there?"

"Why you see, Ting-a-ling," said the other, "I came out to look for the
Princess."--

"You!" cried Ting-a-ling; "a little fellow like you!"

"Yes, _I_!" said Parsley; "and Sourgrass and I rode the same butterfly;
but by the time we had come this far, we got too heavy, and Sourgrass
made me get off."

"And what are you going to do now?" said Ting-a-ling.

"O, I'm all right!" replied Parsley. "I shall have a butterfly of my own
soon."

"How's that?" asked Ting-a-ling, quite curious to know.

"Come here!" said Parsley; and so Ting-a-ling got off his grasshopper,
and led it up close to his friend. "See what I've found!" said Parsley,
showing a cocoon that lay beside him. "I'm going to wait till this
butterfly's hatched, and I shall have him the minute he comes out."

The idea of waiting for the butterfly to be hatched, seemed so funny to
Ting-a-ling, that he burst out laughing, and Parsley laughed too, and so
did the grasshopper, for he took this opportunity to slip his head out
of the bridle, and away he went!

Ting-a-ling turned and gazed in amazement at the grasshopper skipping up
the hill; and Parsley, when he had done laughing, advised him to hunt
around for another cocoon, and follow his example.

Ting-a-ling did not reply to this advice, but throwing his bridle to
Parsley, said, "There, you would better take that. You may want it when
your butterfly's hatched. I shall push on."

"What! walk?" cried Parsley.

"Yes, walk," said Ting-a-ling. "Good-by."

So Ting-a-ling travelled on by himself for the rest of the day, and it
was nearly evening when he came to a wide brook with beautiful green
banks, and overhanging trees. Here he sat down to rest himself; and
while he was wondering if it would be a good thing for him to try to get
across, he amused himself by watching the sports and antics of various
insects and fishes that were enjoying themselves that fine summer
evening. Plenty of butterflies and dragon-flies were there, but
Ting-a-ling knew that he could never catch one of them, for they were
nearly all the time over the surface of the water; and many a big fish
was watching them from below, hoping that in their giddy flights, some
of them would come near enough to be snapped down for supper. There were
spiders, who shot over the surface of the brook as if they had been
skating; and all sorts of beautiful bugs and flies were there,--green,