Butterfly knelt at her side, and bending down,
said tenderly--

"Tell me, dear, _has_ he burst you?"

"N-no, n-not--qu-quite," answered the Spider faintly; "I'm only
f-flattened. Let some of you sq-squeeze m-my sides."

Immediately a dozen of the young Crickets surrounded the old lady, and
pressed her sides with all their might. This had the effect of raising
her back a little, and enabling her to draw a good long breath, which
speedily raised her up to her original size.

"There, I'm all right now," she said in a cheerful voice; "I'm used to
accidents of that sort, and they never leave any bad effects beyond a
little stiffness of the lungs. Come, Grasshopper, I'll finish that
story. Get on with your dancing, good people."

"Nobody inquires after _me_," croaked the Bull-frog, rubbing his chest.
"I had no idea a Mole's head was so hard."

"Have some mountain-dew," said the Butterfly, gracefully handing him a
blue-bell filled with the precious liquid. "It has been gathered on the
Scottish hills by a native Bee, who has just arrived laden with
heather-honey."

The Bull-frog accepted the goblet, and drained it to the bottom.

"It is strong," he said, coughing and smacking his lips.

"Oo ay," observed the Scotch Bee; "it's got the credit o' bein' a wee
thing nippy."

Under the influence of the dew the Bull-frog began to sing bass lustily.
The other musicians chimed in. The dancers seized each other by waist
and hand--or by tail and wing those that happened to have no waists or
hands--and the ball was about to go on, when the Grasshopper shouted--

"Stop!"

"Your money or your life!" added the lively young Cricket.

"Silence, pert monkey!--Let us wait a few moments, my friends, for here
come our lamps."

As she spoke, a soft light was seen in the far distance gleaming upon
the stems of the trees and steadily advancing.

"Your relations, Mr Glow-worm, I presume," said the Butterfly in a
sweet silvery voice. "It is so _very_ kind of you to send for them, and
_so_ obliging in them to come. Really I cannot find words to express my
gratitude."

The countenance of the Glow-worm lighted up with pleasure at these
words.

As the new-comers drew near, they appeared like a great galaxy of minute
stars--as if a mass of the Milky-way had been cut off and hurled down to
earth. There were several hundreds of them. As they approached, the
whole forest lighted up; and when at last they descended upon the scene