lieved him to be. And when Kiddie suddenly asked _him_ a question, he
was sure of his mistake.

"Did you know," said Kiddie, "that Solomon Owl often visits these farm
buildings?"

"Why, no! I wasn't aware of that," Mr. Nighthawk replied with a quick,
nervous look behind him. "What brings him here?"

"Chickens!" Kiddie Katydid explained. "Solomon Owl is very fond of
chickens. But they do say that he's not above eating a nighthawk when he
happens to stumble upon one."

V

SOLOMON OWL'S CRY

For a few moments Mr. Nighthawk fidgeted about on his branch of the
maple tree. What Kiddie Katydid said to him about Solomon Owl frightened
him. And he almost wished he hadn't come to Farmer Green's dooryard that
night.

But the more he thought about the matter, the less he was inclined to
believe that there was really any danger. And soon he peered at Kiddie
Katydid through the darkness and said:

"You almost fooled me. But I know now what you were trying to do. You
were trying to scare me away from here!"

"_Katy did, Katy did; she did, she did!_"

"You needn't say that!" Mr. Nighthawk exclaimed. "Katy has nothing to do
with my case. She hasn't even mentioned Solomon Owl's name."

"You don't understand," Kiddie told him. "I'm speaking of an entirely
different matter."

And then Mr. Nighthawk had another idea. He chased the frown away from
his face and smiled very pleasantly.

"I'm sorry that you don't feel like jumping for me," he observed. "But
I'd be just as glad to see you fly! I remember being told that you fly
almost as well as you jump."

"Oh, I can't begin to fly as well as you can," Kiddie Katydid told Mr.
Nighthawk. "I only wish I knew how to coast down out of the sky the way
you do, without being dashed upon the ground.... How do you manage to
stop so suddenly?"

"Pooh! That's nothing!" Mr. Nighthawk said. "It's easy, once you know
how."

In spite of his way of belittling his flying feats, Mr. Nighthawk was
secretly very proud of his skill at sky-coasting. And when Kiddie
Katydid asked him if he wouldn't kindly give an exhibition of the art of
fancy flying, Mr. Nighthawk couldn't help feeling pleased.

He wanted to display his skill. But there was just one thing that
troubled him. He was afraid that if he climbed up into the sky, before
he dropped down again Kiddie Katydid would have vanished. And that
didn't suit Mr. Nighthawk's plans.

"Will you promise to stay right where you are until I