r?"

"Why, certainly!" said Jimmy Rabbit. "And so was Dusty Moth, for that
matter. Yes! he was a caterpillar himself, once--and a much uglier one
than Betsy, if only he knew it.

"In fact," said Jimmy, looking at the picture with his head on one side,
"as caterpillars go, Betsy Butterfly was a great beauty, even at so
early an age."

XXII

THE SKIPPER

IN Farmer Green's meadow there lived a very nervous person called the
Skipper. He was a distant cousin of Betsy Butterfly's. And since the two
were almost exactly the same age, they quite naturally spent a good deal
of time together.

The Skipper was of a dark, somber brown shade. And it always seemed to
the gaily colored Betsy that he tried to make up for his dull appearance
by being extremely lively in his movements. He was forever skipping
suddenly from one place to another--a trick which had caused people to
call him by so odd a name.

Much as she liked this queer cousin, Betsy often found his uncertain
habit somewhat annoying. It was not very pleasant, when talking to him,
to discover that he had unexpectedly left her when she supposed he was
right beside her, or behind her. If she had anything important to tell
him she frequently had to hurry after him. And the worst of it was, once
she had overtaken him she never knew when he would dart away again.

As the summer lengthened it seemed to Betsy Butterfly that the Skipper
grew more flighty than ever. Once she had been able to say a few words
to him before he went swooping off. But now--now she could not even tell
him that it was a nice day without following her cousin at least half an
hour in order to finish her remark.

"You're becoming terribly fidgety," Betsy told him at last. "If you
don't look out you'll have nervous prostration--or I shall, if you don't
stop jumping about like a jack-in-the-box. I advise you," she said, "to
see a doctor before you get any worse."

Of course, it must not be supposed that Betsy Butterfly could say all
that to her cousin without going to a good deal of trouble. As a matter
of fact, she had to follow him about the fields for two whole days and
travel several miles before she succeeded in finishing what she wanted
to say to him.

"Why, I feel fine!" the Skipper cried. "I don't need a doctor. I----"

He started to skip away from the wild morning-glory blossom on which he
had perched himself. But Betsy caught him just in time--and held him.

"Now, you listen to