ar-by came Chirpy Cricket's cheerful
piping. And in the distant swamp the musical Frog family held a singing
party every evening. Johnnie Green liked to hear them. But he objected
strongly to the weird hooting and horrid laughter of Solomon Owl, who
left the hemlock woods after dark to hunt for field mice.

As for Kiddie Katydid, he paid little attention to any other of the
night cries. No matter what anybody else said, he solemnly hurled back
at him that neverending refrain, _Katy did, Katy did; she did, she did!_

You would have thought, if you had heard Kiddie, that somebody had
disputed his statement. But such was not the case at all. Since no one
except the Katydids knew anything about the mysterious Katy, nobody was
able to say truthfully that she _didn't_ do it. In fact, the whole
affair was a great secret, so far as outsiders were concerned. And one
night Johnnie Green even thrust his head out of the window and cried
impatiently:

"All right! All right! I admit that Katy did it. And now do please keep
still!"

Of course, his plea failed to silence Kiddie Katydid. But it relieved
Johnnie Green's mind and made him feel better, anyhow.

Kiddie told his own people about Johnnie's outburst. And they all agreed
that it was a rude thing to do.

"Doesn't he know," they asked, "that the night belongs to us?"

II

THE WARNING

It must not be supposed that all of Kiddie Katydid's family made the
same neverending din at night. Actually it was only the gentlemen that
so amused themselves. No doubt the ladies, too, knew the secret about
the mysterious Katy--and what she did.

But for some reason they never, never mentioned the matter. Even when
they gossiped among themselves, as they sometimes did, they never
touched upon that subject.

Furthermore, in the daytime Kiddie and his fellows were as quiet as they
could be. Having waked the echoes all night long, they were content,
when morning came, to rest silently among the trees and shrubs. And a
very good reason did they have, too, for such a habit. During the day
there were altogether too many birds flying about, to please the
Katydids. And Kiddie often remarked in a joking way that the only birds
he cared about were those that _didn't care about him_!

Of course, there were a few birds that prowled about Pleasant Valley
after dark. Mr. Nighthawk was one of that crew of nightly wanderers. And
whenever the word was passed around that he had been seen in