be really ill the first thing they know.
And then what will they do?"

XII
BENJAMIN BAT

Solomon Owl was by no means the only night-prowler in Pleasant Valley. He
had neighbors that chose to sleep in the daytime, so they might roam
through the woods and fields after dark. One of these was Benjamin Bat.
And furthermore, he was the color of night itself.

Now, Benjamin Bat was an odd chap. When he was still he liked to hang by
his feet, upside down. And when he was flying he sailed about in a zigzag,
helter-skelter fashion. He went in so many different directions, turning
this way and that, one could never tell where he was going. One might say
that his life was just one continual dodge--when he wasn't resting with his
heels where his head ought to be.

A good many of Benjamin Bat's friends said he certainly must be crazy,
because he didn't do as they did. But that never made the slightest
difference in Benjamin Bat's habits. He continued to zigzag through
life--and hang by his heels--just the same. Perhaps he thought that all
other people were crazy because they didn't do likewise.

Benjamin often dodged across Solomon Owl's path, when Solomon was hunting
for field mice. And since Benjamin was the least bit like a mouse
himself--except for his wings--there was a time, once, when Solomon tried to
catch him.

But Solomon Owl soon found that chasing Benjamin Bat made him dizzy. If
Benjamin hadn't been used to hanging head downward, maybe he would have
been dizzy, too.

Though the two often saw each other, Benjamin Bat never seemed to care to
stop for a chat with Solomon Owl. One night, however, Benjamin actually
called to Solomon and asked his advice. He was in trouble. And he knew
that Solomon Owl was supposed by some to be the wisest old fellow for
miles around.

It was almost morning. And Solomon Owl was hurrying home, because a
terrible storm had arisen. The lightning was flashing, and peals of
thunder crashed through the woods. Big drops of rain were already
pattering down. But Solomon Owl did not care, for he had almost reached
his house in the hollow hemlock near the foot of Blue Mountain.

It was different with Benjamin Bat. That night he had strayed a long
distance from his home in Cedar Swamp. And he didn't know what to do. "I
want to get under cover, somewhere," he told Solomon Owl. "You don't know
of a good place near-by, do you, where I can get out of the storm and take
a nap?"

"Why, y