he was so
eager that he sprang too far. He sailed far over the stranger's head and
landed some distance away.

"Hullo! He doesn't want it!" said the stranger. "It must be for _you_!"
And he shoved the message into Kiddie Katydid's willing hands.

Almost immediately Leaper the Locust jumped back again.

But of course he was too late.

XX

THE STRANGER'S MESSAGE

Leaper the Locust was a rude fellow. He actually tried to snatch the
message out of Kiddie Katydid's hands. But the stranger promptly bowled
him over and told him sternly to be off.

Leaper did not dare disobey. So he hurried away. But after a few moments
he came sailing back again and hung on the outskirts of the crowd, to
see what was going on.

He soon discovered that there was some difficulty. Kiddie Katydid had
torn open the message; and now he turned it over and over, wondering
what it said--for to tell the truth, he couldn't read a single word.

"Ah!" the stranger remarked presently. "I see what your trouble is. You
haven't your spectacles on!"

He was a polite person--that stranger. He knew better than to suggest
that a body didn't know his letters!

"Let me help you!" he continued. And taking the message from Kiddie
Katydid, he held it upside down and began reciting in a sing-song voice:

Dear Mr. Grasshopper,
in Pleasant Valley----

Though you do not know me, I am a distant
cousin of yours; and I am now on my way to your
neighborhood, with my family. Not being
acquainted in your part of the country, I am
sending you this message with the hope that
you will be ready to welcome us when we arrive.
_Please see that there's a plenty to eat!_

"That's odd!" Kiddie Katydid exclaimed, after the stranger had finished.
"Won't you please read that once more? I want to be sure that I
understand it."

Thereupon the travel-worn messenger repeated the contents of the letter.
And this time he held it with the back towards him, so that he couldn't
see the writing at all. Like Kiddie Katydid, he didn't know how to read
a word. But luckily he had learned the message by heart before starting
on his journey.

"What's my cousin's name?" Kiddie Katydid asked him abruptly. "Hasn't he
signed the message?"

"I'm afraid he forgot to do that," the stranger muttered. "No doubt he
wants to surprise you," he added, as he handed the letter back to
Kiddie.

"This cousin of m