chum knows now that I did not mean to," Ruby answered. "I
truly could not help it, but you see if I am ever in disgrace again."

"Never mind, all the girls knew how it was," answered her friend,
comfortingly. "Come and play puss in the corner. I am glad she let
you out instead of keeping you in all recess."

Ruby was quite happy again now, and when she had a moment in which to
run up and tell Aunt Emma that Miss Ketchum said that she had not
really done anything naughty, she felt much better.

But she was sorry that she had laughed, even if she did not intend to,
and she wanted to make up to Miss Ketchum for her seeming rudeness; so
she made up her mind that that very afternoon she would gather all the
caterpillars she could find anywhere, and give them to Miss Ketchum, to
show her how sorry she was, and how happy she would like to make her.

That afternoon, as soon as she had finished practising, she took an
empty cardboard box, and went down to the end of the garden. She was
quite sure that in the vegetable garden she would find ever so many
caterpillars, and there they were,--great brown ones, crawling lazily
about in the sun, smaller green ones, that travelled about more
actively, and upon the tomato-plants Ruby found some that she was quite
sure Miss Ketchum would like, because they were so remarkably large and
ugly.

She was a very happy little girl as she filled her box, feeling almost
as delighted as if she was finding something for herself with every
caterpillar that she captured and put into her box.

After she had put as many as thirty or forty in their prison she found
it was quite hard to put one in without another coming out, and she did
not get along quite as fast. Before the bell rang for study hour,
however, she had captured fifty-five, and fifty-five caterpillars
looked like a great many when Ruby carefully opened one side of the box
and peeped in. Ruby wrote upon the top of the box, in her very best
hand, "For Miss Ketchum, with Ruby's love," and then she punched little
holes in the cover that her caterpillars might have some air to breathe.

She ran upstairs to Miss Ketchum's room, which was over one end of the
schoolhouse, and knocked at the door, which was partly opened. No one
answered, and Ruby knocked again. She pushed the door open a little
farther and looked in, and found that Miss Ketchum had gone out. She
was to have charge of the study hour that afternoon, and she had
probab