WHAT THE BROWN BEETLE SAW. 25

The brown beetle was silent. He wanted to
tell the blue dragon-fly that he would be on the
watch, and whenever he saw the gnomes he
would give her all the information he gained,
but he was not quick-witted, and hardly knew
how to say it.

“Perhaps thou wilt be able to find out more
about these strange creatures,” said the blue
dragon-fly. “If thou shouldst, pray let me
know, for I am full of curiosity about them,
they do play such fine tricks upon the giants.”

Before the brown beetle could reply, the at-
tendants of the blue dragon-fly came swarming
up the hill, evidently in a state of great
excitement.

“ Well?” demanded their haughty mistress,
for not one of them would have dared ad-
dress her without permission.

“Gracious lady,” began the first maid of
honor, “we searched for a pool of water suit-
able for thy ladyship to bathe in, but the
drought has affected most of those which thy
ladyship is accustomed to frequent, and we
were obliged to go farther away. At last, we
discovered one where the water is clear and
cool, where pond-lily-blossoms with their