The Bats Have A Jollification

: Daddy's Bedtime Bird Stories

"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!"