"Oh, no!" wheezed the fat lady. "I'm all right. It's no matter, I assure
you. I'm quite used to running into things after dark."

Freddie Firefly didn't quite like being referred to as a THING. But he
was too polite to say so.

"You ought to be careful," he told the strange fat lady. "It's dangerous
for one of your weight--"

"Oh, don't!" she exclaimed quickly. "PLEASE don't tell me I'm fat! I've
tried every remedy I know and I can't lose a single pound!"

"Don't you think that flying makes you thinner?" Freddie Firefly asked
her.

But the stout person shook her head dolefully.

"It only seems to make me bigger," she groaned.

"Then why do you do it?"

"Oh, I just adore flying!" she cried. "Don't you?"

Freddie Firefly admitted that he did like to fly. And he was sorry, the
next moment, that he had made such a statement. For the fat lady blinked
happily at him. And clasping her hands together, she said:

"Oh, do let's fly together, then!"

Freddie Firefly was so taken aback that at first he couldn't think what