nd he crawled under a leaf, out of sight.

For once in her life Mrs. Ladybug wasn't eager to talk to her neighbors.
On the contrary, she seemed to avoid them. But Peppery Polly Bumblebee
called on her and asked her if she had seen the handsome stranger, Mr.
P. Bug.

"Yes!" said Mrs. Ladybug. "I've talked with him. And it's true that he
has always lived here. There was a slight mistake about his carpetbag.
It belonged to one of his ancestors. And since it bears his ancestor's
name and address, naturally I thought they both belonged to this Mr.
Bug."

Peppery Polly laughed.

"If you don't believe what I tell you, you can ask him yourself!" Mrs.
Ladybug snapped. "He's at work over in the potato patch, helping Farmer
Green."

Peppery Polly laughed again, more unpleasantly than ever.

"_Helping_ Farmer Green!" she exclaimed. "He's eating the leaves off the
vines as fast as he can. I know that gentleman. He's Mr. Potato Bug. And
he's one of the greatest pests on the farm."

X

A BIT OF NEWS

CHIRPY CRICKET was looking for Mrs. Ladybug. He had news for her. Now,
it wasn't often that anybody could tell Mrs. Ladybug anything. Usually
she was the one that told other people bits of gossip. So Chirpy Cricket
was specially eager to find her and make known to her what he had
learned.

It was about Mrs. Ladybug's cousin. At least, there was a person living
in the vegetable garden who claimed to be a cousin of Mrs. Ladybug's.

Chirpy found Mrs. Ladybug in the orchard. But strange to say, she
didn't seem at all interested in his news.

"I dare say I have a cousin in the garden," she told him. "Ours is a big
family. I have more cousins than I could ever count. They're as
plentiful as the leaves on the trees. I can't stop my work to go and see
this one. If I called on all my cousins I'd never have time to help
Farmer Green."

Chirpy Cricket looked disappointed. He had expected Mrs. Ladybug to show
great interest in what he told her. She certainly always thought that
others ought to pay strict attention when she related the happenings
about the farm. And she always wanted them to act surprised and pleased,
too.

"Aren't you going to the garden?" Chirpy Cricket demanded. "Don't you
intend to be polite to your cousin?"

"Humph!" said Mrs. Ladybug. "She can't be any busier than I am. Why
doesn't she come to the orchard to call on me?"

"She can't do that," he explained. "Your cousin says that it wouldn't be
etiq