r anything. But it doesn't matter, for I can easily build
another."

Mrs. Ladybug's neighbors crowded about her, all asking the same
question.

"Wasn't this your house?"

"No!" she admitted. "No, it wasn't." And then she made an astonishing
confession. "I've never owned a house," she said. "I've never had one in
all my life. I _can't_ have a house. I couldn't get one that was big
enough.

"I have so many children that I don't know what to do," said little Mrs.
Ladybug.

XXI

PLANS FOR WINTER

IT was almost fall. The nights--and some of the days--were chilly. Those
that had spent the whole summer out of doors began to think about where
they should pass the winter. Yet everybody was amazed by the news that
Mrs. Ladybug spread broadcast. She said that she expected, soon, to go
into winter quarters.

"Humph!" cried Daddy Longlegs' wife when she heard what Mrs. Ladybug was
saying. "She never had any quarters, so far as anyone knows. Mrs.
Ladybug hasn't been able to tear herself away from the orchard long
enough to live anywhere except in the apple trees."

It was plain that Daddy Longlegs' wife didn't believe what Mrs. Ladybug
was telling her neighbors. And there were many more folk that agreed
with her.

Little Mrs. Ladybug smiled a knowing smile when she heard what her
friends thought.

"They'll see! They'll see!" she said. "I'm going to spend the winter in
the biggest and finest house on this farm."

That was all she would tell. She wouldn't breathe another word about her
plans. And naturally, every one became very curious. There wasn't a soul
that wasn't agog to know what Mrs. Ladybug intended to do.

The neighbors asked her, begged her, teased her--some even threatened
her. But she declined to answer. She said that if she told where she
expected to pass the cold months everybody would want to go to the same
place and maybe there wouldn't be any room left for her.

Perhaps some of her friends _had_ intended to follow her into her winter
quarters. Anyhow, many of them looked guilty when she made that remark.
And a few of them looked angry, and declared that Mrs. Ladybug was
selfish.

"If the house is as big as she claims it is, it ought to hold a few
extra guests without being crowded," they grumbled.

"Guests--" said Mrs. Ladybug--"guests should always wait for an
invitation."

"Have you had one?" Buster Bumblebee asked her.

Mrs. Ladybug did not answer his question. Most people thought