Leaper the was a rude fellow. He actually tried to snatch the message out of Kiddie Katydid's hands. But the stranger bowled him over and told him sternly to be off.  
Leaper did not dare disobey. So he hurried away. But after a few moments he came sailing back again and hung on the of the crowd, to see what was going on.
 
He soon discovered that there was some difficulty. Kiddie Katydid had torn open the message; and now he turned it over and over, wondering what it said—for to tell the truth, he couldn't read a single word.
 
"Ah!" the stranger remarked presently. "I see what your trouble is. You haven't your spectacles on!"
 
He was a polite person—that stranger. He knew better than to suggest that a body didn't know his letters!
 
"Let me help you!" he continued. And taking the message from Kiddie Katydid, he held it upside down and began reciting in a sing-song voice:
 
Dear Mr. ,
in Pleasant Valley——
Though you do not know me, I am a distant cousin of yours; and I am now on my way to your neighborhood, with my family. Not being acquainted in your part of the country, I am sending you this message with the hope that you will be ready to welcome us when we arrive. Please see that there's a plenty to eat!
 
"That's odd!" Kiddie Katydid exclaimed, after the stranger had finished. "Won't you please read that once more? I want to be sure that I understand it."
 
Thereupon the travel-worn messenger repeated the contents of the letter. And this time he held it with the back towards him, so that he couldn't see ............