“‘I was soon swimming about with a lot of other tads, slapping tails, and having all kinds of fun’” 23 “A loud splash and Mr. Rana’s long legs disappeared in the brook” 24 “‘I’m right over here in the shade’” 25 “‘The mother spins the cocoon of silk from her own body’” 38 “‘Why, it’s Daddy Long Legs’” 46 “‘I made one of these pits and in the funnel end I lay in wait for ants’” 76 The wise grasshopper 88 “‘My friends, there are ants and ants’” 160 “‘Then there are ants who keep slaves’” 162 “‘Then there are ants who cut pieces from green leaves and carry them as parasols’” 163 The house of the mound-builder ant 165 “Vespa Maculata” 170 The Queen Bee and her bodyguard of drones 187 “‘Smart children, aren’t they?’ asked some moths” 203 “‘I am the moon moth, the Luna’” 213 [Illustration] THE REAL FAIRY FOLK [Illustration] CHAPTER I IN THE OLD WILLOW TREE He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small. —_Coleridge._ Ruth climbed to her favourite perch in the old willow tree, and settled Belinda in a crotch beside her. “Now,” she said, drawing a long breath, “we will be cool and comfy.” Certainly if there was a cool spot to be found on this hot August morning it was in the shade of this big willow. “Her very own tree,” as Ruth always called it, for, since she could climb at all, she had loved to sit among its drooping branches and hear the leaves whispering together the wonderful things, which she knew they were telling each other, even though she could not understand them. Then, too, she could look down into the brook, and watch the doings of the queer little people who made their home there. These, like all the tiny folk of the outdoor world, were a source of never-failing interest and wonder. In their company, Ruth was never lonely, even though she had neither brother nor sister, nor indeed any little boy or girl to play with. Still it would be so much nicer if she could only talk to the bugs and things. There were such lots of questions she wanted to ask them.