"The bats are all so glad the summer has come," said daddy. "For a long, long time they have been staying in the caves and hiding away in the tops of the corners and crevices. But last night they had their first real jollification.

"One of the bats had said it was high time to go out into the world, but another bat had said it was still too chilly. Then a bat said:

"'Well, what have we wings for?' And after that it was decided that they should be off.

"They waited until it began to grow dark—and then some of the ones who hadn't been sleeping very well got up and flew about a little while.

"Then the others who had been sound asleep woke up just as it became very, very dark. Oh, how the bats do love the night! They love it just as much as the birds love the daytime and the sun. For, though bats have wings, they are not at all like birds and they aren't in the least friendly with any of them.

"So off they started on the jollification. First they whizzed through the air practising their different ways of flying. And after they had all the strength back into their wings, they reached the garden of an old, deserted house, where they stopped for the rest of the night.

"There they told stories and chatted and chatted. For they had a great deal to say after their long sleep, and they ran races, and did tricks, and frightened people they saw coming along the road.

"They would get so near that each person would say:

"'Oh, dear me, I must cover up my head or that bat will get caught in my hair.'

"The bats thought that was a great joke, as they had no intentions of caging themselves up in someone's hair when they could be at the jollification. But they did enjoy playing pranks on the grownups.

"And soon, much too soon, daylight came.

"But what do you suppose happened? Such a wonderful ending to their jollification! Didn't those thoughtful little brownies, who had known all about the bats' jollification—and feeling rather sorry for the bats because they don't have such very good times—send some magic air-boats which picked up the sleepy bats as they flew along. Then they were carried back to their cold, hard beds in the crevices of the rocks—which they thought were so comfortable!

"And as they crept into bed, there were never so many happy bats and pleased bats as these were at having had air-boats bring them home from their jollification!"