The Tale of Grandfather Mole | Page 9

biggest one in the garden!" she managed to gasp. "But it
simply won't come up out of the ground."
"It must be the grandfather of them all!" Jolly Robin cried. And laying
hold of the worm himself, he pulled with her.
Somehow there seemed a great commotion in the loose dirt at their feet,
as they struggled to get the worm out of its hiding-place. And at last, to
their great delight, they felt it--saw it--coming.
Then a shower of dirt flew into their faces and both Jolly Robin and his
wife tumbled over backward.

It was no worm that Mrs. Robin had found, but Grandfather Mole's
hairless tail sticking out of the ground. Together they had dragged him
to the surface.
And if Mrs. Robin hadn't found the grandfather of all angleworms, at
least she had found Grandfather Mole.
And she had given him a surprise, too.

XII
MR. BLACKBIRD'S ADVICE
OUT of the pine woods beyond the meadow Mr. Blackbird sometimes
came to breakfast in Farmer Green's garden. He claimed that he came
there to look for angleworms. But those that knew him best said that he
wasn't above taking an egg out of some small bird's nest. And some
whispered that he had even been known to devour a nestling.
Whenever he visited the garden he told everybody that he should never
come there again because Grandfather Mole was too greedy. Mr.
Blackbird said that Grandfather Mole didn't leave enough angleworms
to make it worth his while to fly across the meadow. And one day when
he chanced to meet Grandfather Mole he told him that it was a shame,
the way he was treating Farmer Green.
"Farmer Green is good enough to let you live underneath his garden.
But instead of showing him that you are grateful you eat all of his
angleworms you can."
Grandfather Mole was thunderstruck. After pondering over Mr.
Blackbird's speech for a few moments he raised his head. "What shall I
do?" he asked in a plaintive voice.
"I should think you'd turn over a new leaf," Mr. Blackbird told him
severely.

And Grandfather Mole promised that he would.
"I'll turn one over to-day," he said, "if you think it will please Farmer
Green."
"There's no doubt that it will," Mr. Blackbird assured him in a slightly
more amiable tone.
A hopeful look came into Grandfather Mole's face. And after thanking
Mr. Blackbird for his advice, he turned away and burrowed out of sight.
Then Mr. Blackbird selected a good many choice tidbits here and there,
which he bolted with gusto. And after he had eaten what Jolly Robin,
who had been watching him, declared afterward to have been a hearty
meal and big enough for any one, Mr. Blackbird began to scold. He
announced that there wasn't any use of his looking for anything more to
eat in that neighborhood, for there wasn't enough there to keep a
mosquito alive. And thereupon he flew away. Nor was anybody sorry
to see him go.
Most of the feathered folk agreed that Mr. Blackbird ought not to have
spoken as he did to Grandfather Mole. But Jolly Robin's wife said that
she was glad there was somebody with backbone enough to tell
Grandfather Mole the truth.
"If there were many more like Grandfather Mole in the garden we'd all
have to spend our summers somewhere else," she said, "or starve."
Jolly Robin told her that she would find things much the same, no
matter where she lived. "What's a garden, without an old mole or two?"
he asked the company in general. And since nobody answered, Jolly
Robin seemed to think he had silenced Mrs. Robin--for once.
But it was not so.
"A garden without an old mole in it would be just what I'd like," she
cried.

"Well, anyhow, my dear," her husband said, "please remember that
Grandfather Mole is going to turn over a new leaf."

XIII
TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF
SEVERAL days passed before Mr. Blackbird returned to Farmer
Green's garden. And when at last he flew across the meadow one
morning and perched on the garden fence, to take a look around before
beginning his breakfast, he saw that Mrs. Jolly Robin was making
countless trips between the garden and her home. Early as it was she
was hard at work feeding her nestlings.
"How are the pickings this morning?" Mr. Blackbird called to her.
"I'm finding plenty for my children to eat--if that's what you mean,"
Mrs. Robin replied somewhat haughtily. Mr. Blackbird laughed in the
sleeve of his black coat. The rascal delighted in using language that did
not please Mrs. Robin.
"If the pickings are good, then there must be fewer pickers," he
remarked with a grin. "I suppose Grandfather Mole has taken my
advice