The Tale of Grandfather Mole | Page 5

Arthur Scott Bailey
now the youngster that came from it was just enough older than the rest of her children to jostle them, and to grab the biggest worms for himself.
It was no wonder that Mrs. Robin needed help. And seeing Grandfather Mole one morning, she explained her difficulty to him, asking if he wouldn't be so kind as to capture angleworms for her.
"Why, certainly! Certainly!" said Grandfather Mole.
And Mrs. Robin breathed a sigh of relief. She felt that her troubles were ended.
"Will you begin to help me at once?" she asked Grandfather Mole.
"I'm sorry that I can't do that," he told her. "You see, I haven't had my breakfast yet. So of course I must catch a few angleworms for myself."
Mrs. Robin was a bit disappointed. But she told Grandfather Mole that it was all right--that she knew a person of his age ought not to go without his breakfast.
So Grandfather Mole went back into the hole through which he had lately come up, first saying however that he would return after he had breakfasted.
Mrs. Robin then set to work herself, to find what she could to feed her clamoring family. Though she hurried as fast as she could, by the time the morning was almost half gone her children were still hungry; and to Mrs. Robin's distress Grandfather Mole had not yet showed himself again.
Mrs. Robin had been watching for him. And she had about given him up in despair when all at once he rose out of the ground.
"Good!" she cried. "Now you can help me, for you must have had your breakfast by this time."
"Yes, I have!" said Grandfather Mole. "I've just finished. But I always begin my luncheon at this hour. So if you don't mind I'll go down into my galleries and hunt for a few angleworms; and when I've had a good meal I'll come back here."
Well, what could Mrs. Robin say? She nodded her head; and she hoped, as Grandfather Mole vanished, that perhaps he would eat only a light luncheon.
But he never reappeared until mid-afternoon. And since he announced then that he was ready to begin his dinner Mrs. Jolly Robin saw that she could expect no help from him whatsoever.
She was terribly upset. But there was nothing she could do except to tell her husband that he would have to spend all his time catching angleworms for the family. And since he was glad enough to do that, Mrs. Robin managed to feed her children all they needed. Even the young Cowbird in her nest had all he wanted.
And Mrs. Robin remarked that it was lucky her husband hadn't such a terrible appetite as some people's--meaning Grandfather Mole's, of course.

VII
TWO WORM-EATERS
THERE was one special reason--among others--why Grandfather Mole didn't like to show himself above ground in the daytime. This reason was--hawks! And there was something else that made him dislike to appear at night, too. This something else was--owls!
But of the two, Grandfather Mole disliked hawks the more, because they could see so far, while he (poor old fellow!) couldn't even see the end of his own nose, though goodness knows it was long enough! Since Henry Hawk could sit in a great elm far up the road and see him the moment he stuck his head out of the ground, while Grandfather Mole couldn't even see the tree, it was not surprising that Grandfather Mole preferred to stay below while Henry Hawk was awake and on watch.
Down in his galleries and chambers where it was dark as a pocket Grandfather Mole enjoyed himself thoroughly. It was lucky he was fond of worms and grubs. If he hadn't been it would be hard to say what he could have found to eat--unless it was dirt. There was plenty of that where he spent his time. But luckily he didn't have to eat it. He did enjoy digging in it, however. So it is easy to see that the way he lived suited him perfectly.
Not every one, of course, would have felt as Grandfather Mole did about angleworms, and grubs and dirt, or dampness, or the dark. Many of his bird neighbors, for instance, liked the same things to eat that he did. But most of them--except such odd ones as Solomon Owl, and Mr. Nighthawk, and Willie Whip-poor-will--loved the bright sunshine.
Spending a summer in Pleasant Valley was a small gentleman of the well known Warbler family, who had so great a liking for worms that he was known as the Worm-eating Warbler. This tiny person spent little or none of his time in the tree-tops, but chose to stay near the ground. And more than once he had seen Grandfather Mole in Farmer Green's garden. He had heard somehow of Grandfather Mole's tastes and habits. And he was inclined to believe that it
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