XII
MR. BLACKBIRD'S ADVICE
OUT of the pine woods beyond the meadow Mr. Blackbird sometimes came tobreakfast in Farmer Green's garden. He claimed that he came there tolook for angleworms. But those that knew him best said that he wasn'tabove taking an egg out of some small bird's nest. And some whisperedthat he had even been known to devour a nestling.
Whenever he visited the garden he told everybody that he should nevercome there again because Grandfather Mole was too greedy. Mr. Blackbirdsaid that Grandfather Mole didn't leave enough angleworms to make itworth his while to fly across the meadow. And one day when he chanced tomeet Grandfather Mole he told him that it was a shame, the way he wastreating Farmer Green.
"Farmer Green is good enough to let you live underneath his garden. Butinstead of showing him that you are grateful you eat all of hisangleworms you can."
Grandfather Mole was thunderstruck. After pondering over Mr. Blackbird'sspeech for a few moments he raised his head. "What shall I do?" he askedin a plaintive voice.
"I should think you'd turn over a new leaf," Mr. Blackbird told himseverely.
And Grandfather Mole promised that he would.
"I'll turn one over to-day," he said, "if you think it will pleaseFarmer Green."
"There's no doubt that it will," Mr. Blackbird assured him in aslightly 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, whohad been watching him, declared afterward to have been a hearty meal andbig enough for any one, Mr. Blackbird began to scold. He announced thatthere wasn't any use of his looking for anything more to eat in thatneighborhood, 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 havespoken as he did to Grandfather Mole. But Jolly Robin's wife said thatshe was glad there was somebody with backbone enough to tell GrandfatherMole the truth.
"If there were many more like Grandfather Mole in the garden we'd allhave to spend our summers somewhere else," she said, "or starve."
Jolly Robin told her that she would find things much the same, no matterwhere she lived. "What's a garden, without an old mole or two?" he askedthe company in general. And since nobody answered, Jolly Robin seemed tothink 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," shecried.
"Well, anyhow, my dear," her husband said, "please remember thatGrandfather 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'sgarden. And when at last he flew across the meadow one morning andperched on the garden fence, to take a look around before beginning hisbreakfast, he saw that Mrs. Jolly Robin was making countless tripsbetween the garden and her home. Early as it was she was hard at workfeeding 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 thesleeve of his black coat. The rascal delighted in using language thatdid not please Mrs. Robin.
"If the pickings are good, then there must be fewer pickers," heremarked with a grin. "I suppose Grandfather Mole has taken my adviceand turned over a new leaf."
"I don't know about that," said Mrs. Robin. "Anyhow, there are plenty ofgood crawling things stirring after last night's shower. Everythingseems to be coming up out of the garden this morning."
She had scarcely finished speaking when Grandfather Mole poked his headfrom beneath a head of lettuce. Mr. Blackbird was just about to beginhis breakfast. But he paused when he saw Grandfather Mole.
"Hello!" he cried. "What brings you to the surface?"
Grandfather Mole knew Mr. Blackbird's voice at once.
"I'm glad you're here!" he exclaimed. "I want you to tell Farmer Greenthe news. For I know he'll be delighted to hear it."
Then Mr. Blackbird did an ungentlemanly thing. He winked at JollyRobin's wife. But he was a rowdy. So what could you expect of him?
"You've turned over a new leaf, have you?" he asked Grandfather Mole.
"Yes!" said Grandfather Mole. "And not only one! I've turned over a newone every day since I last saw you."
Mr. Blackbird replied that he was glad to know it.
Grandfather Mole Greets Mr. Meadow Mouse. (_Page 61_)]
"At least," Grandfather Mole continued, "I've turned over the newestleaves I could. Of course you can't turn over a leaf unless it's bigenough to turn over. When a leaf is so young that it wraps itself aroundthe main stalk it's useless to try to turn it over. And it's a greatwaste of time waiting for it to grow.... But it's easy to turn over abig one." Suiting his action to his words, Grandfather Mole stepped upto a loose-growing head of lettuce, and thrusting his long nose under adrooping leaf he lifted it up and pushed it over.
As soon as he moved aside a little the leaf promptly righted itself.Grandfather Mole felt it brush his back as it swept into place again.
"Of course," he remarked, "you can't expect a leaf to stay turned over,unless you want to stand and hold it in place. And that would be a greatwaste of time--especially for one as hungry as I am." And poking hisdrill-like snout into the earth, he drew forth a huge angleworm, whichquickly disappeared down his throat.
Mr. Blackbird choked; and not over anything he was eating, either. Hechoked because he was angry.
"It's no use," he said gloomily to Mrs. Robin, as soon as he couldspeak. "It's no use trying to get Grandfather Mole to stop eatingangleworms. In my opinion, he's too old to turn over a new leaf--the wayI meant.
"You can't teach an old Mole new tricks," said Mr. Blackbird.
XIV
THE NEW SUNSHADE
GRANDFATHER MOLE was resting in the shade of a toadstool. It was astifling, sultry day. And having come up into the garden on some errandor other, Grandfather Mole had found the sunshine upon his backaltogether too hot for his liking.
He was thinking how comfortable his own cool, dark chambers were, andwondering why anybody should prefer to live above ground in the heat,when a voice called to him, "What a fine umbrella you have! It must be ahandy thing to have in one's family!"
It was Mr. Meadow Mouse speaking. And since Grandfather Mole knew himto be a harmless sort of person he asked him to come over and join him.
"To be sure, there's not room enough for two under my sunshade,"Grandfather Mole said. "But you can stand just outside it. And perhapsthe sight of me in the shade may help you to feel cooler, even if youare in the sun."
Well, Mr. Meadow Mouse smiled a bit, all to himself. He knew thatGrandfather Mole was odd. And being a good-natured person and wishing toplease Grandfather Mole, Mr. Meadow Mouse joined him.
"What do you think of it now?" Grandfather Mole demanded of Mr. MeadowMouse, almost as soon as he had stepped just outside the shade of thetoadstool. "Don't you feel cooler already? I shouldn't care to stay inthe garden a second without this sunshade."
Mr. Meadow Mouse wanted to be polite. So he replied that perhaps he didfeel a bit more comfortable.
"You ought to own one of these," said Grandfather Mole.
"I've heard they're not always easy to find," Mr. Meadow Mouse remarked.
"That's true," Grandfather agreed.
"You don't--ahem!--you don't use this one all the time, do you?" Mr.Meadow Mouse inquired.
"No!" Grandfather Mole answered. "Not when it rains!"
"Then," said Mr. Meadow Mouse, "maybe you'll let me borrow your umbrella(or sunshade, as you call it) some rainy day."
"Certainly! You shall take it the next tim
e it rains!" Grandfatherpromised.
As Mr. Meadow Mouse murmured, "Thank you!" he looked up at the sky witha knowing eye. He could see signs there. But of course Grandfather Molehad never seen the sky in all his life.
"The very next time it rains!" Mr. Meadow Mouse repeated, as if hewanted to be sure there was no misunderstanding about it.
"Certainly! Certainly!" Grandfather Mole said. "And as I've remarkedbefore, I'd be glad to let you come under the sunshade now, beside me,if there was only room enough for both of us."
"You needn't trouble yourself," Mr. Meadow Mouse told him. And once morehe scanned the sky eagerly.
"What's that?" Grandfather Mole cried suddenly, as he started up inalarm. "What struck the top of my sunshade?"
"I don't know," said Mr. Meadow Mouse. "I don't know what it was, unlessit was a rain-drop."
XV
TWO AND A TOADSTOOL
GRANDFATHER MOLE had promised Mr. Meadow Mouse that he would loan himhis toadstool sunshade--or umbrella--the very next time it rained. Butwhen he agreed to that, Grandfather hadn't the slightest idea there wasa shower coming. Mr. Meadow Mouse, however, had watched the dark cloudsgathering in the sky. But he had said nothing of what he saw. And whenthe rain-drops began to patter on top of Grandfather Mole's sunshade Mr.Meadow Mouse cried in a brisk voice: "I'll thank you, sir, for the loanof your umbrella!"
Now, Grandfather Mole had never used his umbrella until that very day.It was not a quarter of an hour since he had discovered it standing inthe garden. And when he had made his promise to Mr. Meadow Mouse he hadhad no idea that it was going to rain so soon. He didn't like thethought of loaning a new umbrella the first day he owned it.
"Can't you wait?" he asked Mr. Meadow Mouse. "Wouldn't some other daysuit you just as well?"
But Mr. Meadow Mouse reminded him that a promise was a promise.
"Well, then--can't you squeeze in beside me?" Grandfather Mole askedhim.
But Mr. Meadow Mouse said that he didn't see how he could do that. "Nowthat it rains there's no more room under your umbrella than there was afew moments ago, when the sun was shining."
"You're mistaken," said Grandfather Mole.
Mr. Meadow Mouse looked surprised. "I don't understand how that can be,"he muttered.
"This toadstool is growing bigger all the time," Grandfather Moleexplained.
"Very well!" said Mr. Meadow Mouse. "If you think there's room for two,I'll crowd in." As he spoke he wedged himself between Grandfather Moleand the stem of the toadstool umbrella. And immediately Grandfather Molefound himself out in the rain. The old gentleman didn't like that verywell; and he said as much, too.
"It's plain that your umbrella didn't grow as much as you thought," Mr.Meadow Mouse retorted.
"You're mistaken," Grandfather Mole told him once more. "My umbrellagrew exactly as much as I expected it would. But there was one thing Iforgot."
"What was that?"
"You were growing at the same time," Grandfather Mole replied.
"Yes! And there's another thing that you forgot!" Mr. Meadow Mouseexclaimed.
"I doubt it," said Grandfather Mole. And though he didn't ask what itwas, Mr. Meadow Mouse told him.
"You were growing too!" he cried.
But Grandfather Mole couldn't agree with Mr. Meadow Mouse.
"I'm too old to grow any more," he said.
"Pardon me," said Mr. Meadow Mouse, "but I don't see how a person withyour well known appetite can help growing fat. And anyhow I'm sorryyou're out in the rain. But it's certainly not my fault."
"We won't discuss that," Grandfather Mole told him. "And since I don'twant to get wet I'm going home.... I hope you'll take good care of mynew sunshade. And please don't forget to return it!" he added anxiously.
"I'll leave it right here for you," Mr. Meadow Mouse promised.
Though Grandfather Mole was far from satisfied he crawled into theground and left Mr. Meadow Mouse to enjoy the rain pattering on the topof the toadstool. And the next day, to his great relief, GrandfatherMole found his sunshade in the same spot. Mr. Meadow Mouse hadn't takenit away. To tell the truth, he had tried to; but he had found that hecouldn't move it. Grandfather Mole said it was the first sunshade that aborrower had ever returned to him.
And that was the truth. For he had never owned a sunshade before.
XVI
GRANDFATHER MOLE'S VISITOR
WHATEVER Grandfather Mole's neighbors might say of him, they never couldclaim that he was lazy. He was always busy. When he wasn't eating orsleeping you could be quite sure that he was digging. He never seemed tobe satisfied with his house, but was forever making what he called"improvements." If there was one thing he liked, it was plenty of halls.He had halls running in every direction. And since a person could nevertell in which one Grandfather Mole might be, visitors might roam abouthis dark galleries a long time without finding him.
If anybody happened to point out to Grandfather Mole that his house hadsuch a drawback, Grandfather Mole always answered that he liked hishouse just as it was and that he wouldn't change it for anything--exceptto add a few more halls.
He was very set in his ways. He claimed that he wouldn't be comfortablein a house that had maybe only two halls--a front and a back one, asBilly Woodchuck's dwelling was known to contain.
Maybe that was the reason why Grandfather Mole never went visiting. Andas for anybody else visiting him--well, what was the use when mostlikely you never could find him?
Nevertheless there was one of Grandfather Mole's neighbors who called athis house frequently, and for the very reason that he knew he couldprobably do exactly as he pleased. Far from trying to find GrandfatherMole, Mr. Meadow Mouse always took pains to avoid him. And if by chancehe met Grandfather Mole in one of his galleries Mr. Meadow Mouse wasalways extremely polite--and ready to run at a moment's notice.
During corn-planting time Mr. Meadow Mouse went regularly down into agallery of Grandfather Mole's that ran under a corner of the cornfield.And somehow he soon grew quite plump.
Now, Grandfather Mole had met Mr. Meadow Mouse two or three times inthat particular gallery. And he was not slow to notice that his visitorlooked fatter each time he saw him. So one day Grandfather Mole askedMr. Meadow Mouse bluntly what he was doing there.
"I'm taking a stroll!" Mr. Meadow Mouse told him meekly.
"Be careful"--Grandfather Mole warned him--"be careful that you don'ttake anything else!"
Trembling slightly (for Grandfather Mole could be terribly severe whenhe wanted to be) Mr. Meadow Mouse said that he hoped Grandfather Moledidn't mind if a person took a little exercise now and then in thoseunderground halls. "On a warm summer's day it's delightfully cool downhere," Mr. Meadow Mouse murmured.
His speech pleased Grandfather Mole.
"I'm glad there's some one that agrees with me!" he exclaimed. "Mostpeople think I'm queer because I like to live underground."
Mr. Meadow Mouse hastened to assure him that _he_ didn't think himqueer--not in the least!
"Thank you! Thank you!" Grandfather Mole said. "And since you're aperson of more sense than I had supposed you're welcome to ramblethrough my halls--so long as you don't take anything except exercise anda stroll."
Then it was Mr. Meadow Mouse's turn to thank Grandfather Mole.
"I feel better," he said, "now that you've given me permission to comehere. For to tell the truth, I've often felt that I was taking achance."
So matters went on smoothly for a time. And Mr. Meadow Mouse spent hoursin the gallery under the cornfield. And he grew fatter every day.Naturally he did not take such pains to dodge Grandfather Mole--afterthe talk they had had. And when the two met one evening Grandfather Molestopped Mr. Meadow Mouse.
"There's something I want to say to you," he remarked. "I notice you'relooking extremely well-fed. And I hope you're not eating any of myangleworms."
Mr. Meadow Mouse laughed right in Grandfather Mole's face.
"Oh, no!" he replied.
"Nor any of m
y grubs or bugs?" Grandfather Mole persisted.
"Certainly not!" said Mr. Meadow Mouse, making a wry face as hespoke--for he was rather a dainty person. And then he whisperedsomething to Grandfather Mole.
"Oh!" said Grandfather Mole. "So that's it, eh? Well, I don't mind. Inever eat anything of that sort. Take all you want of it!"
XVII
MR. CROW SCOLDS
OLD Mr. Crow was angry with Grandfather Mole.
Now, there was nothing strange about that, because Mr. Crow was alwayslosing his temper. And his neighbors had long since learned not to paymuch heed to his scolding. They knew that loud talk never really hurtany one. And generally Mr. Crow forgot a grievance quickly, because hewas sure to get angry with somebody else.
There was one matter upon which Mr. Crow was especially touchy. That wascorn. If anybody talked about corn-robbers, or even said much aboutcorn as a food, Mr. Crow always lost his temper. And if anybody showedmuch liking for corn, or meddled in the cornfield, then old Mr. Crowwould get so angry that he couldn't speak a pleasant word for days anddays.
And now he was enraged because he had reason to believe that GrandfatherMole was eating the corn that Farmer Green had planted.
"He's eating it out of the hills," Mr. Crow told his neighbors.
"Farmer Green sometimes places scarecrows in the cornfield," JimmyRabbit remarked. "So why wouldn't it be a good idea to get him to set upa few scaremoles?"