odd sort of jingle. And all the time he
was dancing and laughing and turning rapid somersaults, as if the little
blue coat could hardly hold so much fun.

"Well, now," broke out Sukey, "you are the only curious thing in all the
Hoop Pole Country. I've been wishing for something odd or strange, and I
am glad you have come, for there is nothing beautiful or curious in all
the White-Oak Flats."

"Why, Sukey Gray! What's that you say? You must be blind as a pumpkin
rind, or a leather-winged bat; this White-Oak Flat is just the place to
look the beautiful right in the face. Now come with me, and we will see
that the little bee, or this great oak tree, or the bright, blue skies,
are beautiful things, if we open our eyes."

All the while the little fellow was getting off this queer speech, he was
swinging and tumbling along up the great limb that reached out toward the
window at which Sukey sat. By the time he had finished it, he was
standing on the window-sill, where he had alighted after a giddy
somersault. He laughed heartily--so heartily that Sukey laughed, too,
though she could not tell why. Then he took off his cap, and said,

"A pickaninny, at your service, Sukey Gray! Will you take a walk with me
to-day? Now jump, while you may!" and he took hold of her two hands and
jumped, and she jumped after him, feeling as light as a feather.

They alighted on the branch of the oak-tree. He immediately began to pull
lichens off the bark, and show Sukey how curious they were. He showed her
how curiously one kind of lichen grew upon another, omitting its own
stalk and leaves, and making use of those of the other. Then he laughed
at her, because he had found curious things within ten feet of her
window.

Next he took her to her own rosebush, and showed her how the limbs were
swelled in some places. Then breaking off the twig, he placed it against
a tree, and began to pound it with his fist. But his little arm was not
strong, and he had to strike it several times before he could break it
open. When it did fly open, Sukey started back at seeing it full of
plant-lice, or aphides.

"Now," said the pickaninny, "in this little house what curious things!
These little aphides have no wings. But their great-great-grandfathers,
and their great-great-grandmothers had. Their mothers and grandmothers
and great-grandmothers had none, and their children will have none, and
their grandchildren will have none, and their great-grandchildren wil