PROMISE 61
XIV BAD NEWS 64
XV THE PRISONER 69
XVI THE TWINS IN THE CLOVER PATCH 74
XVII BUSTER LEARNS OF THE RAISING BEE 81
XVIII FOLLOWING THE CROWD 86
XIX THE FEAST AT FARMER GREEN'S 91
XX BUSTER AND THE FIDDLERS 96
XXI THE BUMBLEBEE IN THE PUMPKIN 101
XXII SOMEONE'S MISTAKE 106
XXIII MAKING GAME OF OLD DOG SPOT 111

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ILLUSTRATIONS

Buster Bumblebee and Chirpy Cricket Have A Chat. Frontispiece
_Frontispiece_--(_Page 9_)
Buster Thanks Old Mr. Crow For His Advice. (_Page 25_) 23
Buster Shouted For Everybody to Keep Quiet. (_Page 48_) 47
Buster Listened to Mrs. Ladybug's Suggestion. (_Page 56_) 56

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THE TALE OF BUSTER BUMBLEBEE

I

THE BIG FAMILY

When Mrs. Field Mouse moved from her home in Farmer Green's meadow to the
more fashionable neighborhood near the gristmill, she had no idea that
anyone would care to live in the little old house that she had left.

So she was much surprised, the following summer, when she heard that a
new family was occupying her former home.

"If it's a small family they'll get along well enough," she remarked to
Aunt Polly Woodchuck, who had told her the news.

"Small!" Aunt Polly exclaimed, lifting both her hands (with the black
mitts on them) high in the air. "They say it's a dreadful big family--at
least two hundred of 'em, so I've been told."

Well, for a moment Mrs. Field Mouse couldn't say a word, she was so
astonished. Then she managed to gasp:

"What's their name?"

"I declare, I can't just remember," said Aunt Polly Woodchuck. "But it's
a name that rhymes with _apple tree_--though that's not quite it....
They're a very musical family, I understand. My nephew, Billy Woodchuck,
passed right by their door only yesterday; and he says he heard music and
the sound of dancing from inside the house."

"Two hundred of them dancing in that little house!" cried Mrs. Field
Mouse. "Why, it's positively dangerous! I should think they'd trample one
another."

And Aunt Polly Woodchuck agreed, before she went off towards her home
under the hill, that there were