is prattle a bit tiresome, she was
too well-mannered to say so.

If the truth were known, Joseph Bumble proved to be somewhat of a
braggart. He was forever boasting of his connection with the Bumblebee
family. And Betsy couldn't say anything to him without his remarking
that his cousin Buster Bumblebee's mother, the well-known Queen, thought
this or that.

"And being of royal blood, the Queen ought to know what's what," he
frequently said.

"I suppose--" Betsy said to him at last--"I suppose you're of royal
blood yourself, Mr. Bumble?"

"Oh, very!" he replied with a smirk. "We're all of us very royal
indeed."

And Betsy Butterfly thought how pleasant it was to be friends with
anyone who came from such a fine family as Joseph Bumble's.

XIV

A DEEP PLOT

AS time passed, Betsy continued to see a great deal of Joseph Bumble.
And she noticed one peculiar thing: Although he talked continually of
his cousin Buster Bumblebee, the Queen's son, no one had ever seen the
two together.

"How does it happen," she asked Joseph at last, "that I never find you
with your cousin? Aren't you friends?"

"We're certainly not _enemies_," said Joseph Bumble, "though I must
admit that we're not quite so intimate as we might be. You see, Buster
and I have different tastes. And now that the red clover is in blossom
he spends all his time in the clover field. But as you know, like you I
am very fond of flowers. And I'd far rather be here in the meadow--or
the flower garden--with you, than in the clover patch with Buster
Bumblebee."

Naturally such an answer was bound to please Betsy Butterfly. And after
that she bothered her head no more about the friendship between the two
cousins. Certainly Joseph Bumble's explanation sounded reasonable. And
she had no cause to doubt his statement.

Meanwhile there were others among Betsy Butterfly's admirers who became
very peevish on observing how much time Betsy and the newcomer in the
neighborhood, Joseph Bumble, were spending in each other's society. And
they agreed among themselves that something ought to be done to put an
end to the upstart Bumble's boasting.

"Betsy Butterfly thinks the fellow is a cousin of Buster Bumblebee's,"
said Chirpy Cricket. "But I've noticed that he and Buster are never
together. Let's ask Buster to come over to the meadow so that he may
meet this cousin of his! And then perhaps we'll learn something more
about Joseph Bumble than we know now."

Ever