"Why don't you find out about it?" asked the most curious person in all
Pleasant Valley--and that, of course, was old Mr. Crow. "If I were you
I'd go to the Carpenter and _insist_ on his telling me."

So Buster Bumblebee began calling at the Carpenter's house every day.
Some days he even went there two or three times. It must have been
annoying for anybody as busy as the Carpenter to be interrupted so
often--and always for the same reason. But he never once thought of being
angry--though he did wish that Buster would let him work in peace.

His answer to Buster's question was always the same: "I'm afraid my house
won't be finished to-morrow."




XIV

BAD NEWS


It is not surprising that the Carpenter's answer failed to satisfy Buster
Bumblebee.

"I really must know when my house will be ready!" he cried at last. "I've
invited all my friends to a house-warming. And how can I have one unless
I have a house to warm?"

The Carpenter slowly shook his head.