Exciting Adventures of Mister Robert Robin | Page 4

weather we have, the more we get! I claim that we are going to have the nicest summer this year that we have had since the year we had so many cherries!"
"I do hope that you are right, Mister Robin!" said Mrs. Partridge. "Major Partridge is always joking me because I am expecting bad weather, but I have noticed that no matter how many nice days we have, it always turns around and rains, before it gets through!"
"Certainly! It should rain, or we would all die of thirst! If no rain came out of the sky, we would not have any cherries, and the bugs would all be so dry there would not be any taste to them! We must have rain, Mrs. Partridge! We must have rain!"
"Do you enjoy rainy weather, Mister Robin?" asked Mrs. Partridge.
"I like wet weather, when it is not too wet; I like dry weather when it is not too dry; I like warm weather when it is not too warm, and I like cool weather when it is not too cool! And I have a song for each kind of weather!" said Robert Robin as he again started hunting for brown bugs.
"You seem to be looking for something, Mister Robin!" said Mrs. Partridge.
"Yes, I am hunting brown bugs!" said Robert Robin; "two of them hid under the leaves, but there must be a few more left!"
"Stir the leaves up with your feet!" said Mrs. Partridge, "then if there are any brown bugs under them you will be able to catch them!"
"I cannot make my feet go backwards!" said Robert Robin. "My feet insist on hopping! I think that I must be clumsy with my legs, for even the farmer's big rooster can scratch the ground and dig up wonderful things. I saw him kick a worm clear through the fence!"
"He must be very strong!" said Mrs. Partridge.
"Strong! I should say he is strong! Even Percy Hawk is afraid of him, and never goes near the little chickens when that big rooster is watching him!"
"Major Partridge is very athletic!" said Mrs. Partridge. "He exercises a great deal on his drum!"
"Here comes the Major now!" said Robert Robin.
"How do you do, sir!" said Major Partridge to Robert Robin.
"Good afternoon, Major!" said Robert Robin. "I have just been telling Mrs. Partridge about how strong the farmer's big rooster was, and how he could dig with his feet!"
"Did you ever see me dig with my feet?" asked Major Partridge.
"I do not remember ever having seen you dig with your feet, Major Partridge, but the farmer's big rooster kicked a worm clear through the fence!"
"Kicking a little worm is nothing! Once I kicked a stone from hither to yonder, and Billy Rabbit asked me to help him dig his next hole!" declared Major Partridge, as he stood very straight and put his chest out. "If you have a few moments to spare I will dig these leaves up for you!"
Then Major Partridge began kicking the leaves in all directions, and Robert Robin began catching the brown bugs, and Mrs. Partridge came from her nest, and found the ripe partridge berries which Major Partridge was uncovering, but when the Major happened to see the ripe red partridge berries he forgot all about kicking the leaves, and he and Mrs. Partridge ate all the berries and never invited Robert Robin to have a berry.
"You seem to like partridge berries!" said Robert Robin.
"Yes, we are very fond of them!" said Mrs. Partridge. "They are my favorite fruit!"
"I seldom eat them!" said Robert Robin. "My favorite fruit is a ripe red cherry!"
"I thought that cherries were purple when they were ripe," said Mrs. Partridge.
"Some kinds of wild cherries are purple when they are ripe, but the cherries which grow on the trees near the farmer's house are red when they are ripe, and they are ever so much better than wild cherries!" said Robert Robin.
"I would like some of the farmer's ripe red cherries, but I would never dare go so near the farmer's house. He would be almost sure to see me and shoot me with his gun!" said Mrs. Partridge, as she got back on her nest and snuggled her eggs.
Major Partridge heard Bob White calling to him, so he strutted over to see what Bob White wanted, but Robert Robin felt like visiting a little more, so he said to Mrs. Partridge:
"You were speaking about being afraid that the farmer would shoot you; he never shoots at me, but one time he threw a stone at me when I was picking some of the cherries to bring home to my babies. He seemed very angry about something."
"Perhaps he did not like you to be picking his cherries," said Mrs. Partridge.
"They were not his cherries!" said Robert Robin. "They were on