Among the Meadow People

by Clara Dillingham Pierson

  "Ah," said the Five-Legged Walking-Stick, "what scrambling! How verycommon!"

  "Yes, indeed!" said his sister. "Why can't they learn to move slowly andgracefully? Perhaps they can't help being fat, but they might at leastact genteel."

  "What is it to be genteel?" asked a Grasshopper suddenly. He had heardevery word that the Walking-Stick said.

  "Why," said the Five-Legged Walking-Stick, "it is just to be genteel. Toact as you see us act, and to----"

  Just here the hay-tedder passed over them, and every one of theWalking-Sticks was sent flying through the air and landed on his back.The Grasshoppers declare that the Walking-Sticks tumbled and kicked andflopped around in a dreadfully common way until they were right sideup. "Why," said the Measuring Worm, "you act like anybody else when thehay-tedder comes along!"

  The Walking-Sticks looked very uncomfortable, and the brother and sistercould not think of anything to say. It was the young green one who spokeat last. "I think," said she, "that it is much easier to act genteelwhen one is right side up."

  THE DAY OF THE GREAT STORM

  Everything in the meadow was dry and dusty. The leaves on the milkweedswere turning yellow with thirst, the field blossoms drooped their daintyheads in the sunshine, and the grass seemed to fairly rattle in thewind, it was so brown and dry.

  All of the meadow people when they met each other would say, "Well, this_is_ hot," and the Garter Snake, who had lived there longer than anyoneelse, declared that it was the hottest and driest time that he had everknown. "Really," he said, "it is so hot that I cannot eat, and such athing never happened before."

  The Grasshoppers and Locusts were very happy, for such weather wasexactly what they liked. They didn't see how people could complain ofsuch delightful scorching days. But that, you know, is always the way,for everybody cannot be suited at once, and all kinds of weather areneeded to make a good year.

  The poor Tree Frog crawled into the coolest place he could find--hollowtrees, shady nooks under the ferns, or even beneath the corner of agreat stone. "Oh," said he, "I wish I were a Tadpole again, swimming ina shady pool. It is such a long, hot journey to the marsh that I cannotgo. Last night I dreamed that I was a Tadpole, splashing in the water,and it was hard to awaken and find myself only an uncomfortable old TreeFrog."

  Over his head the Katydids were singing, "Lovely weather! Lovelyweather!" and the Tree Frog, who was a good-natured old fellow afterall, winked his eye at them and said: "Sing away. This won't lastalways, and then it will be my turn to sing."

  Sure enough, the very next day a tiny cloud drifted across the sky, andthe Tree Frog, who always knew when the weather was about to change,began his rain-song. "Pukr-r-rup!" sang he, "Pukr-r-rup! It will rain!It will rain! R-r-r-rain!"

  The little white cloud, grew bigger and blacker, and another camefollowing after, then another, and another, and another, until the skywas quite covered with rushing black clouds. Then came a long, lowrumble of thunder, and all the meadow people hurried to find shelter.The Moths and Butterflies hung on the under sides of great leaves. TheGrasshoppers and their cousins crawled under burdock and mullein plants.The Ants scurried around to find their own homes. The Bees and Wasps,who had been gathering honey for their nests, flew swiftly back.Everyone was hurrying to be ready for the shower, and above all therustle and stir could be heard the voice of the old Frog, "Pukr-r-rup!Pukr-r-rup! It will rain! It will rain! R-r-r-rain!"

  The wind blew harder and harder, the branches swayed and tossed, theleaves danced, and some even blew off of their mother trees; thehundreds of little clinging creatures clung more and more tightly to theleaves that sheltered them, and then the rain came, and such a rain!Great drops hurrying down from the sky, crowding each other, beatingdown the grass, flooding the homes of the Ants and Digger Wasps untilthey were half choked with water, knocking over the Grasshoppers andtumbling them about like leaves. The lightning flashed, and the thunderpealed, and often a tree would crash down in the forest near by when thewind blew a great blast.

  When everybody was wet, and little rivulets of water were tricklingthrough the grass and running into great puddles in the hollows, therain stopped, stopped suddenly. One by one the meadow people crawled orswam into sight.

  The Digger Wasp was floating on a leaf in a big puddle. He was too tiredand wet to fly, and the whirling of the leaf made him feel sick anddizzy, but he stood firmly on his tiny boat and tried to look as thoughhe enjoyed it.

  The Ants were rushing around to put their homes in shape, the Spiderswere busily eating their old webs, which had been broken and torn in thestorm, and some were already beginning new ones. A large family of Bees,whose tree-home had been blown down, passed over the meadow in searchfor a new dwelling, and everybody seemed busy and happy in the cool airthat followed the storm.

  The Snake went gliding through the wet grass, as hungry as ever, theTree Frog was as happy as when he was a Tadpole, and only theGrasshoppers and their cousins, the Locusts and Katydids, were cross."Such a horrid rain!" they grumbled, "it spoiled all our fun. And aftersuch lovely hot weather too."

  "Now don't be silly," said the Tree Frog, who could be really severewhen he thought best, "the Bees and the Ants are not complaining, andthey had a good deal harder time than you. Can't you make the best ofanything? A nice, hungry, cross lot you would be if it didn't rain,because then you would have no good, juicy food. It's better for you inthe end as it is, but even if it were not, you might make the best of itas I did of the hot weather. When you have lived as long as I have, youwill know that neither Grasshoppers nor Tree Frogs can have their wayall the time, but that it always comes out all right in the end withouttheir fretting about it."

  THE STORY OF LILY PAD ISLAND

  This is the story of a venturesome young Spider, who left his home inthe meadow to seek his fortune in the great world.

  He was a beautiful Spider, and belonged to one of the best families inthe country around. He was a worker, too, for, as he had often said,there wasn't a lazy leg on his body, and he could spin the biggest,strongest, and shiniest web in the meadow. All the young people in themeadow liked him, and he was invited to every party, or dance, orpicnic that they planned. If he had been content to stay at home, as hisbrothers and sisters were, he would in time have become as important andwell known as the Tree Frog, or the fat, old Cricket, or even as theGarter Snake.

  But that would not satisfy him at all, and one morning he said "Good-by"to all his friends and relatives, and set sail for unknown lands. He setsail, but not on water. He crawled up a tree, and out to the end of oneof its branches. There he began spinning a long silken rope, and lettingthe wind blow it away from the tree. He held fast to one end, and whenthe wind was quite strong, he let go of the branch and sailed offthrough the air, carried by his rope balloon, and blown along by thewind.

  The meadow people, on the ground below, watched him until he got so faraway that he looked about as large as a Fly, and then he looked nobigger than an Ant, and then no bigger than a clover seed, and then nobigger than the tiniest egg that was ever laid, and then--well, then youcould see nothing but sky, and the Spider was truly gone. The otheryoung Spiders all wished that they had gone, and the old Spiders said,"They might much better stay at home, as their fathers and mothers haddone." There was no use talking about it when they disagreed so, andvery little more was said.

  Meanwhile, the young traveller was having a very fine time. He wascarried past trees and over fences, down toward the river. Under himwere all the bright flowers of the meadow, and the bushes which used totower above his head. After a while, he saw the rushes of the marshbelow him, and wondered if the Frogs there would see him as he passedover them.

  Next, he saw a beautiful, shining river, and in the quiet water by theshore were great white water-lilies growing, with their green leaves,or pads, floating beside them. "Ah," thought he, "I shall pass over theriver, and land on the farther side," and he began to think of eatinghis rope balloon, so that he might sink slowly to the gro
und, when--thewind suddenly stopped blowing, and he began falling slowly down, down,down, down.

  How he longed for a branch to cling to! How he shivered at the thoughtof plunging into the cold water! How he wished that he had always stayedat home! How he thought of all the naughty things that he had ever done,and was sorry that he had done them! But it was of no use, for still hewent down, down, down. He gave up all hope and tried to be brave, and atthat very minute he felt himself alight on a great green lily-pad.

  This was indeed an adventure, and he was very joyful for a little while.But he got hungry, and there was no food near. He walked all over theleaf, Lily-Pad Island he named it, and ran around its edges as many asforty times. It was just a flat, green island, and at one side was aperfect white lily, which had grown, so pure and beautiful, out of thedarkness and slime of the river bottom. The lily was so near that hejumped over to it. There he nestled in its sweet, yellow centre, andwent to sleep.

  When he fell asleep it was late in the afternoon, and, as the sun sanklower and lower in the west, the lily began to close her petals and getready for the night. She was just drawing under the water when theSpider awakened. It was dark and close, and he felt himself shut in andgoing down. He scrambled and pushed, and got out just in time to give agreat leap and alight on Lily Pad-Island once more. And then he was in asad plight. He was hungry and cold, and night was coming on, and, whatwas worst of all, in his great struggle to free himself from the lilyhe had pulled off two of his legs, so he had only six left.

  He never liked to think of that night afterward, it was so dreadful. Inthe morning he saw a leaf come floating down the stream; he watched it;it touched Lily-Pad Island for just an instant and he jumped on. He didnot know where it would take him, but anything was better than stayingwhere he was and starving. It might float to the shore, or against oneof the rushes that grew in the shallower parts of the river. If it didthat, he would jump off and run up to the top and set sail again, butthe island, where he had been, was too low to give him a start.

  He went straight down-stream for a while, then the leaf drifted into alittle eddy, and whirled around and around, until the Spider was almosttoo dizzy to stand on it. After that, it floated slowly, very slowly,toward the shore, and at last came the joyful minute when the Spidercould jump to some of the plants that grew in the shallow water, and, bymaking rope bridges from one to another, get on solid ground.

  After a few days' rest he started back to the meadow, asking his way ofevery insect that he met. When he got home they did not know him, he wasso changed, but thought him only a tramp Spider, and not one of theirown people. His mother was the first one to find out who he was, andwhen her friends said, "Just what I expected! He might have knownbetter," she hushed them, and answered: "The poor child has had a hardtime, and I won't scold him for going. He has learned that home is thebest place, and that home friends are the dearest. I shall keep himquiet while his new legs are growing, and then, I think, he will spinhis webs near the old place."

  And so he did, and is now one of the steadiest of all the meadowpeople. When anybody asks him his age, he refuses to tell, "For," hesays, "most of me is middle-aged, but these two new legs of mine arestill very young."

  THE GRASSHOPPER WHO WOULDN'T BE SCARED.

  There were more Ants in the meadow than there were of any other kind ofinsects. In their family there were not only Ants, but great-aunts,cousins, nephews, and nieces, until it made one sleepy to think how manyrelatives each Ant had. Yet they were small people and never noisy, soperhaps the Grasshoppers seemed to be the largest family there.

  There were many different families of Grasshoppers, but they were allrelated. Some had short horns, or feelers, and red legs; and some hadlong horns. Some lived in the lower part of the meadow where it wasdamp, and some in the upper part. The Katydids, who really belong tothis family, you know, stayed in trees and did not often sing in thedaytime. Then there were the great Road Grasshoppers who lived only inplaces where the ground was bare and dusty, and whom you could hardlysee unless they were flying. When they lay in the dust their wide wingswere hidden and they showed only that part of their bodies which wasdust-color. Let the farmer drive along, however, and they rose into theair with a gentle, whirring sound and fluttered to a safe place. Thenone could see them plainly, for their large under wings were black withyellow edges.

  Perhaps those Grasshoppers who were best known in the meadow were theClouded Grasshoppers, large dirty-brown ones with dark spots, who seemedto be everywhere during the autumn. The fathers and brothers in thisfamily always crackled their wings loudly when they flew anywhere, soone could never forget that they were around.

  It was queer that they were always spoken of as Grasshoppers. Theirgreat-great-great-grandparents were called Locusts, and that was thefamily name, but the Cicadas liked that name and wanted it forthemselves, and made such a fuss about it that people began to call themSeventeen-Year-Locusts; and then because they had to call the realLocusts something else, they called them Grasshoppers. The Grasshoppersdidn't mind this. They were jolly and noisy, and as they grew older weresometimes very pompous. And you know what it is to be pompous.

  When the farmer was drawing the last loads of hay to his barn andputting them away in the great mows there, three young CloudedGrasshopper brothers were frolicking near the wagon. They had tried tosee who could run the fastest, crackle the loudest, spring the highest,flutter the farthest, and eat the most. There seemed to be nothing moreto do. They couldn't eat another mouthful, the other fellows wouldn'tplay with them, they wouldn't play with their sisters, and they were nothaving any fun at all.

  They were sitting on a hay-cock, watching the wagon as it came nearerand nearer. The farmer was on top and one of his men was walking besideit. Whenever they came to a hay-cock the farmer would stop the Horses,the man would run a long-handled, shining pitch-fork into the hay on theground and throw it up to the farmer. Then it would be trampled down onto the load, the farmer's wife would rake up the scattering hay whichwas left on the ground, and that would be thrown up also.

  The biggest Clouded Grasshopper said to his brothers, "You dare not sitstill while they put this hay on the load!"

  The smallest Clouded Grasshopper said, "I do too!"

  The second brother said, "Huh! Guess I dare do anything you do!" He saidit in a rather mean way, and that may have been because he had eaten toomuch. Overeating will make any insect cross.

  Now every one of them was afraid, but each waited for the others to backout. While they were waiting, the wagon stopped beside them, the shiningfork was run into the hay, and they were shaken and stood on their headsand lifted through the air on to the wagon. There they found themselvesall tangled up with hay in the middle of the load. It was dark and theycould hardly breathe. There were a few stems of nettles in the hay, andthey had to crawl away from them. It was no fun at all, and they didn'ttalk very much.

  When the wagon reached the barn, they were pitched into the mow withthe hay, and then they hopped and fluttered around until they were onthe floor over the Horses' stalls. They sat together on the floor andwondered how they could ever get back to the meadow. Because they hadcome in the middle of the load, they did not know the way.

  "Oh!" said they. "Who are those four-legged people over there?"

  "Kittens!" sang a Swallow over their heads. "Oh, tittle-ittle-ittle-ee!"

  The Clouded Grasshoppers had never seen Kittens. It is true that the oldCat often went hunting in the meadow, but that was at night, whenGrasshoppers were asleep.

  "Meouw!" said the Yellow Kitten. "Look at those queer little brownpeople on the floor. Let's each catch one."

  So the Kittens began crawling slowly over the floor, keeping theirbodies and tails low, and taking very short steps. Not one of them tookhis eyes off the Clouded Grasshopper whom he meant to catch. Sometimesthey stopped and crouched and watched, then they went on, nearer,nearer, nearer, still, while the Clouded Grasshoppers were more and morescared and wished they had neve
r left the meadow where they had been sosafe and happy.

  At last the Kittens jumped, coming down with their sharp little clawsjust where the Clouded Grasshoppers--had been. The Clouded Grasshoppershad jumped too, but they could not stay long in the air, and when theycame down the Kittens jumped again. So it went until the poor CloudedGrasshoppers were very, very tired and could not jump half so far asthey had done at first. Sometimes the Kittens even tried to catch themwhile they were fluttering, and each time they came a little nearer thanbefore. They were so tired that they never thought of leaping up on thewall of the barn where the Kittens couldn't reach them.

  At last the smallest Clouded Grasshopper called to his brothers, "Let uschase the Kittens."

  The brothers answered, "They're too big."

  The smallest Clouded Grasshopper, who had always been the brightest onein the family, called back, "We may scare them if they are big."

  Then all the Clouded Grasshoppers leaped toward the Kittens and crackledtheir wings and looked very, very fierce. And the Kittens ran away asfast as they could. They were in such a hurry to get away that theYellow Kitten tumbled over the White Kitten and they rolled on the floorin a furry little heap. The Clouded Grasshoppers leaped again, and theKittens scrambled away to their nest in the hay, and stood against thewall and raised their backs and their pointed little tails, and openedtheir pink mouths and spat at them, and said, "Ha-ah-h-h!"