Freddie Firefly looked puzzled.

"What has Farmer Green ever done for me?" he inquired.

"What has he done?" Benjamin cried. "Hasn't he furnished you a fine
meadow in which to dance at night? And doesn't he let you come here in
his dooryard whenever you please? I should think THAT was something to
be thankful for!"

"Now that you speak of it, I don't know but that you're right," Freddie
Firefly admitted, "though I never thought of such a thing before." And
not wishing to be ungrateful to Farmer Green, he promptly put out his
light.

Of course, that was just what Benjamin was waiting for. And since he
could see perfectly in the dark, without a moment's warning he rushed
straight at Freddie Firefly, with his mouth wide open.

If Freddie hadn't happened to flash his light just at that moment he
would never have flashed it again.

As soon as Benjamin Bat saw the greenish-white gleam he was so afraid of
getting burned--not knowing that Freddie's light could not harm him--he
was so afraid that he swerved sharply to one side and zigzagged about
the yard for a few seconds.

But he soon returned to speak to Freddie Firefly once more.

"You made a good beginning," he told Freddie. "But you turned your light
on again too quickly. Just keep dark until I tell you to shine, and with