uette. She says you've lived on the farm longer than she has."

"Rubbish!" Mrs. Ladybug scolded. "I'm a plain working person. There's
too much to do, during the summer, for me to bother with such nonsense."

Chirpy Cricket found her rather discouraging. Still he hadn't given up
hope of making Mrs. Ladybug change her mind.

"I fear you're making a mistake," he remarked. "You ought to see this
cousin. She's different from any of your family that I've ever met
before."

"How is she different?" Mrs. Ladybug demanded, pausing in her pursuit of
insects on the leaves of the apple tree. At last she began to show some
signs of interest.

"I don't know," Chirpy Cricket replied. "I can't say. Maybe it's her
clothes that make her look strange."

Mrs. Ladybug then started to ask him questions--which was the best of
proof that her curiosity had been aroused.

"What sort of gown was my cousin wearing?" she inquired. "Was it a red
polka dot, like mine?"

"I don't remember," he answered.

"What colors did she have on?"

"I didn't notice," said Chirpy Cricket.

Mrs. Ladybug gave him a look of disgust.

"Well, if that isn't just like a man!" she spluttered. "Men never can
tell how a body's dressed. If I want to learn anything more about this
cousin of mine I suppose I'll have to go and see her with my own eyes."

And that afternoon she went to the vegetable garden.

XI

THE NEW COUSIN

FOR Mrs. Ladybug, finding her unknown cousin in Farmer Green's vegetable
garden was not an easy task. Since Chirpy Cricket hadn't been able to
tell Mrs. Ladybug what colors her cousin wore, Mrs. Ladybug didn't know
what to expect.

"I wish I knew whether she was dressed in red, black, blue, yellow or
some other color," Mrs. Ladybug complained to herself. "But I don't know
that. I don't even know if she carries an umbrella."

There was nothing Mrs. Ladybug could do except to ask everyone she met.
So she inquired right and left if anybody happened to be acquainted
with her cousin. And at last Betsy Butterfly came to Mrs. Ladybug's
help.

"Look among the squash vines!" Betsy Butterfly advised her. "I noticed
somebody there that looks a bit like you. Maybe it's your cousin."

That was very kind of Betsy Butterfly. Mrs. Ladybug was no friend of
hers. Indeed, Mrs. Ladybug had often found fault with Betsy for being
too pleasure-loving. But Betsy Butterfly was not one of the kind that
nurses grudges. She was only too glad to do Mrs