There was one old Hickory Horn-Devil in particular, who had come out
in front of the others like Goliath before the ranks of the
Philistines; and the Snoodle was dancing around him in an ecstasy of
anticipation. Though he was so excited, he looked so good-natured that
Sara could not believe that he wished to harm even these
fierce-looking brutes; indeed, there was a sort of resemblance between
them, except for the expression. And, as she thought that, it flashed
into Sara's mind that the Snoodle did not really want to hurt them, at
all, but only to embrace them! So she ran forward and cried to the
excited populace (who were spinning this way and that, wildly coiling
and uncoiling their springs and crying, "What in butter shall we do?),
"He won't hurt them--he won't hurt them! He only wants to embrace
them! He thinks they're his relatives--his father was a noodle!"
At this the people grew calmer, and began to gather around her head,
asking cautious questions. The caterpillars did not seem to
understand, and looked as frightened and agitated as ever; for Sara
was unconsciously speaking the butterfly language, and the
caterpillars spoke a different dialect.
"Give me a chance to prove my theory!" continued Sara, in the
butterfly language. "Here, Snoodle!" she called, soothingly.
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