e, the hoppiest hopper
in Hoptown."

"Where is that?" asked the child.

"Why, Hoptown is near the bottom of the gulch, in that thick patch of
grass you see yonder. It's on your way home, so I'd be pleased to have
you visit it."

"Won't I step on some of you?" she asked.

"Not if you are careful," replied Prince Nimble. "Grasshoppers don't
often get stepped on. We're pretty active, you know."

"All right," said Twinkle. "I'd like to see a grasshopper village."

"Then follow me, and I'll guide you," said Nimble, and at once he leaped
from the blade of grass and landed at least six feet away.

Twinkle got up and followed, keeping her eye on the pretty Prince, who
leaped so fast that she had to trot to keep up with him. Nimble would
wait on some clump of grass or bit of rock until the girl came up, and
then away he'd go again.

"How far is it?" Twinkle once asked him.

"About a mile and a half," was the answer; "we'll soon be there, for you
are as good as a mile, and I'm good for the half-mile."

"How do you figure that out?" asked Twinkle.

"Why, I've always heard that a miss is as good as a mile, and you're a
miss, are you not?"

"Not yet," she answered; "I'm only a little girl. But papa will be sure
to miss me if I don't get home to supper."

Chapter VII
The Grasshoppers' Hop

TWINKLE now began to fear she wouldn't get home to supper, for the sun
started to sink into the big prairie, and in the golden glow it left
behind, the girl beheld most beautiful palaces and castles suspended in
the air just above the hollow in which she stood. Splendid banners
floated from the peaks and spires of these magnificent buildings, and
all the windows seemed of silver and all the roofs of gold.

"What city is that?" she asked, standing still, in amazement.

"That isn't any city," replied the grasshopper. "They are only Castles
in the Air--very pretty to look at, but out of everybody's reach. Come
along, my little friend; we're almost at Hoptown."

So Twinkle walked on, and before long Prince Nimble paused on the stem
of a hollyhock and said:

"Now, sit down carefully, right where you are, and you will be able to
watch my people. It is the night of our regular hop--if you listen you
can hear the orchestra tuning up."

She sat down, as he bade her, and tried to listen, but only heard a low
whirr and rattle like the noise of a beetle's wings.

"That's the drummer," said Prince Nimble. "He is very clever, indeed