The Crickets
THE CRICKETS sang in the grasses. They
sang the song of summer's ending, a sad, mo-
notonous song. "Summer is over and gone,"
they sang. "Over and gone, over and gone.
Summer is dying, dying."
The crickets felt it was their duty to warn every-
body that summertime cannot last forever. Even on the
most beautiful days in the whole year-the days when
summer is changing into fall-the crickets spread the
rumor of sadness and change.
Everybody heard the song of the crickets. Avery
and Fern Arable heard it as they walked the dusty road.
They knew that school would soon begin again. The
young geese heard it and knew that they would never
be little goslings again. Charlotte heard it and knew
that she hadn't much time left. Mrs. Zuckerman, at
work in the kitchen, heard the crickets, and a sadness
came over her, too. "Another summer gone," she
sighed. Lurvy, at work building a crate for Wilbur,
heard the song and knew it was time to dig potatoes.
"Summer is over and gone," repeated the crickets.
"How many nights till frost?" sang the crickets.
"Good-bye, summer, good-bye, good-bye!"
The sheep heard the crickets, and they felt so uneasy
they broke a hole in the pasture fence and wandered up
into the field across the road. The gander discovered
the hole and led his family through, and they walked
to the orchard and ate the apples that were lying on the
ground. A little maple tree in the swamp heard the
cricket song and turned bright red with anxiety.
Wilbur was now the center of attraction on the farm.
Good food and regular hours were showing results:
vVilbur was a pig any man would be proud of. One day
more than a hundred people carne to stand at his yard
and admire him. Charlotte had written the word RA-
DIANT, and Wilbur really looked radiant as he stood
in the golden sunlight. Ever since the spider had be-
friended him, he had done his best to live up to his repu-
tation. When Charlotte's web said SOME PIG, Wilbur
had tried hard to look like some pig. When Charlotte's
web said TERRIFIC, Wilbur had tried to look terrific.
And now that the web said RADIANT, he did every-
thing possible to make himself glow.
It is not easy to look radiant, but Wilbur threw him-
self into it with a will. He would turn his head slightly
and blink his long eye-lashes. Then he would breathe
deeply. And when his audience grew bored, he would spring into the air and do a back flip with a half twist.
At this the crowd would yell and cheer. "How's that
for a pig?" Mr. Zuckerman would ask, well pleased
with himself. "That pig is radiant."
Some of Wilbur's friends in the barn worried for
fear all this attention would go to his head and make
him stuck up. But it never did. Wilbur was modest;
fame did not spoil him. He still worried some about the
future, as he could hardly believe that a mere spider
would be able to save his life. Sometimes at night he
would have a bad dream. He would dream that men
were coming to get him with knives and guns. But that
was only a dream. In the daytime, Wilbur usually felt
happy and confident. No pig ever had truer friends,
and he realized that friendship is one of the most satis-
fying things in the world. Even the song of the crickets
did not make Wilbur too sad. He knew it was almost
time for the County Fair, and he was looking forward
to the trip. If he could distinguish himself at the Fair,
and maybe win some prize money, he was sure Zucker-
man would let him live.
Charlotte had worries of her own, but she kept quiet
about them. One morning Wilbur asked her about the
Fair.
"You're going with me, aren't you, Charlotte?" he
said.
"Well, I don't know," replied Charlotte. "The Fair
comes at a bad time for me. I shall find it inconvenient
to leave home, even for a few days."
"Why? " asked Wilbur.
"Oh, I just don't feel like leaving my web. Too much
going on around here."
"Please come with me!" begged Wilbur. "I need you,
Charlotte. I can't stand going to the Fair without you.
You've just got to come."
"No," said Charlotte, "I believe I'd better stay home
and see if I can't get some work done."
"What kind of work?" asked Wilbur.
"Egg laying. It's time I made an egg sac and filled it
with eggs."
"I didn't know you could lay eggs," said Wilbur in
amazement.
"Oh, sure," said the spider. "I'm versatile."
"What does 'versatile' mean-full of eggs?" asked
Wilbur.
"Certainly not," said Charlotte. " 'Versatile' means
I can turn with ease from one thing to another. It means
I don't have to limit my activities to spinning and trap-
ping and stunts like that."
"Why don't you come with me to the Fair Grounds
and lay your eggs there?" pleaded Wilbur. "It would
be wonderful fun."
Charlotte gave her web a twitch and moodily
watched it sway. "I'm afraid not," she said. "You don't know the first thing about egg laying, Wilbur. I can't
arrange my family duties to suit the management of the
County Fair. When I get ready to lay eggs, I have to
lay eggs, Fair or no Fair. However, I don't want you to
worry about it-you might lose weight. We'll leave it
this way: I'll come to the Fair if I possibly can."
"Oh, good! " said Wilbur. "I knew you wouldn't for-
sake me just when I need you most."
All that day Wilbur stayed inside, taking life easy in
the straw. Charlotte rested and ate a grasshopper. She
knew that she couldn't help Wilbur much longer. In a
few days she would have to drop everything and build
the beautiful little sac that would hold her eggs.