me he took
fright anew. Once more he sprang from his seat. Once more he floated
like a chip upon the surface of the pond. Once more he crawled back to
his seat, after he had made up his mind that the danger had passed.

So they played dead for a long time--both Mrs. Ladybug and Mr. Cricket
Frog. And if he hadn't at last made up his mind that she was afraid of
him, they might still be trying to fool each other.

"Pardon me, madam!" Mr. Cricket Frog called to Mrs. Ladybug. "I see
you're a bit timid. I assure you I shall not harm you."

At that Mrs. Ladybug opened her eyes and looked at him. Slowly she
thrust her feet out from under her body. And then she tried her wings.
They were as good as ever. Her fall had not injured them.

"You gave me a terrible fright," Mrs. Ladybug told him.

Mr. Cricket Frog was very bold now.

"Why were you afraid of me?" he asked her. "Do I look fierce?" he
inquired with a hopeful smile, as if he hoped that he did, but scarcely
dared think so.

"I'm afraid of all frogs," Mrs. Ladybug explained. "Now, there's
Ferdinand Frog--"

"A rascal!" Mr. Cricket Frog cried. "But, madam, I'm not in the least
like him. I wouldn't hurt you. In fact, I'd protect you."

His words pleased Mrs. Ladybug. She said that thereafter she should
always feel safe, with him in the neighborhood.

Mr. Cricket Frog bowed gallantly, with his hand on his heart.

And Mrs. Ladybug went away without guessing that he had himself played
dead because he had been in terror of her.

"What a brave gentleman he is!" Mrs. Ladybug murmured.

XVIII

A MYSTERY

THERE was one thing that Mrs. Ladybug dreaded more than any other. That
was--fire. The slightest whiff of smoke sent her into a flutter of
alarm. The sight of a blaze made her almost frantic.

Perhaps Mrs. Ladybug's neighbors--more than she--were to be blamed for
her fear. Some of them had an unkind way of frightening her. When they
found her a bit too prying with her countless questions about this,
that, and the other matter that did not concern her, they said to her:

"Aren't you worried, Mrs. Ladybug? What if your house were on fire?
Wouldn't your children burn?"

Such questions never failed to send Mrs. Ladybug hurrying away.

After a while people began to wonder where Mrs. Ladybug went when she
dashed away like that. Nobody seemed to know where she lived. They
supposed that she must fly to her home, wherever it was.

To everybody's surprise, Mrs