"Certainly. The Locusts, of course,--a very old and distinguished
family; and the Grasshoppers are pretty well, and ought to be
asked. But we must draw the line somewhere,--and the Crickets! Why
it's shocking even to think of!"

"I thought they were nice, respectable people."

"O, perfectly nice and respectable,--very good people, in fact, so
far as that goes. But then you must see the difficulty."

"My dear cousin, I am afraid you must explain."

"Why, their _color_, to be sure. Don't you see?"

"Oh!" said the Colonel. "That's it, is it? Excuse me, but I have
been living in France, where these distinctions are wholly unknown,
and I have not yet got myself in the train of fashionable ideas
here."

"Well, then, let me teach you," said Miss Katy. "You know we go for
no distinctions except those created by Nature herself, and we
found our rank upon color, because that is clearly a thing that
none has any hand in but our Maker. You see?"

"Yes; but who decides what color shall be the reigning color?"

"I'm surprised to hear the question! The only true color--the only
proper one--is _our_ color, to be sure. A lovely pea-green is
the precise shade on which to found aristocratic distinction. But