me, they might have
had trouble between themselves. And if I happened to get in their way it
would certainly have gone hard with me."

Harmless Mr. Mole Cricket never knew what a monster his cousin Chirpy
Cricket believed him to be. When he reached home he told his wife that he
had met a queer little cousin who spent much of his time above ground and
lived on grass.

But Mrs. Mole Cricket wouldn't believe him. She told him not to be silly.
She even said that there wasn't any such thing as grass. And she asked
him how anybody could live on it when there wasn't any anywhere.

Naturally, she wouldn't have talked like that if she had ever seen much
of the world. But she had spent her whole life down in the dirt, beneath
Farmer Green's garden.

XV

TOMMY TREE CRICKET

After meeting that odd Mr. Mole Cricket, who claimed to be his cousin,
Chirpy Cricket tried to find out more about him from his nearer
relations. But there wasn't one that had ever seen or heard of such a
person. One night Chirpy even travelled quite a distance to call on Tommy
Tree Cricket, with the hope that perhaps Tommy might be able to tell him
something.

Chirpy found Tommy Tree Cricket in the tangle of raspberry bushes beyond
the garden. It was not hard to tell where he was, because he was a famous
fiddler. He played a tune that was different from Chirpy's _cr-r-r-i!
cr-r-r-i! cr-r-r-i!_ Tommy Tree Cricket fiddled _re-teat! re-teat!
re-teat!_ And many considered him a much finer musician than Chirpy
himself. He was small and pale. Beside Chirpy Cricket, who was all but
black, Tommy Tree Cricket looked decidedly delicate. But he could fiddle
all night without getting tired.

"I've come all the way from the yard to have a chat with you!" Chirpy
called to his cousin Tommy.

"Come up and have a seat!" said Tommy Tree Cricket.

"I can find one here, thank you!" Chirpy answered.

"Oh! Don't sit on the damp ground!" Tommy cried. "That's a dangerous
thing to do."

Chirpy Cricket smiled to himself. In a way Tommy Tree Cricket was queer.
He always clung to trees and shrubs, claiming that it was much more
healthful to live off the ground. But he was so pale that Chirpy Cricket
was sure he was mistaken.

"The ground's good enough for me," Chirpy told his cousin.

"Well, we won't quarrel about that tonight," said Tommy Tree Cricket.
"Sit there, if you will. And when I've finished playing this tune we'll
have a talk. I only hope you won't c