What Katy Did: Complete

I was sitting in the meadows one day, not long ago, at a place where there was a small brook. Itwas a hot day. The sky was very blue, and white clouds, like great swans, went floating over it to andfro. Just opposite me was a clump of green rushes, with dark velvety spikes, and among them onesingle tall, red cardinal flower, which was bending over the brook as if to see its own beautiful facein the water. But the cardinal did not seem to be vain.The picture was so pretty that I sat a long time enjoying it. Suddenly, close to me, two smallvoices began to talk-or to sing, for I couldn't tell exactly which it was. One voice was shrill; theother, which was a little deeper, sounded very positive and cross. They were evidently disputingabout something, for they said the same words over and over again. These were the words-"Katydid." "Katy didn't." "She did." "She didn't." "She did." "She didn't." "Did." "Didn't." I think theymust have repeated them at least a hundred times.I got up from my seat to see if I could find the speakers; and sure enough, there on one of thecat-tail bulrushes, I spied two tiny pale-green creatures. Their eyes seemed to be weak, for they bothwore black goggles. They had six legs apiece, -two short ones, two not so short, and two very long.These last legs had joints like the springs to buggy-tops; and as I watched, they began walking up therush, and then I saw that they moved exactly like an old-fashioned gig. In fact, if I hadn't been toobig, I think I should have heard them creak as they went along. They didn't say anything so long as Iwas there, but the moment my back was turned they began to quarrel again, and in the same oldwords-"Katy did." "Katy didn't." "She did." "She didn't."As I walked home I fell to thinking about another Katy, -a Katy I once knew, who planned todo a great many wonderful things, and in the end did none of them, but something quitedifferent, -something she didn't like at all at first, but which, on the whole, was a great deal betterthan any of the doings she had dreamed about. And as I thought, this little story grew in my head, and I resolved to write it down for you. I have done it; and, in memory of my two little friends onthe bulrush, I give it their name. Here it is-the story of What Katy Did.Katy's name was Katy Carr. She lived in the town of Burnet, which wasn't a very big town, butwas growing as fast as it knew how. The house she lived in stood on the edge of the town. It was alarge square house, white, with green blinds, and had a porch in front, over which roses and clematismade a thick bower. Four tall locust trees shaded the gravel path which led to the front gate. On oneside of the house was an orchard; on the other side were wood piles and barns, and an ice-house.Behind was a kitchen garden sloping to the south; and behind that a pasture with a brook in it, andbutternut trees, and four cows-two red ones, a yellow one with sharp horns tipped with tin, and adear little white one named Da