Chapter 9 MISTER ROBERT ROBIN HAS A BATTLE WITH THE SPARROWS

One morning Mister Robert Robin was awake earlier than usual. The wind was blowing cold and chilly, and the stars were shining out of a cold sky. The faintest glow was to be seen in the east, but that was enough to prove to Robert Robin that morning was about to break. Yet Robert Robin did not sing his Hurry-up song.

It was so cold and chilly that he did not feel like singing, and besides, he thought to himself, "Why should I awaken the birds and squirrels on a cold morning like this? There is nothing for them to do, so I will let them sleep!"

So Robert Robin took a little nap, and when he awoke the sun was just coming up, and then Robert Robin could see the frost. The roofs of the farmer's buildings were covered with it, and so were the fence rails, and even the leaves of the big basswood were white in places.

Mister Tom Squirrel was running through the woods telling everyone that there had been a frost, and that the chestnut burrs would soon be open. Mister Tom Squirrel was very much pleased, but Robert Robin could not help feeling sad. For he knew that Winter was coming, and that the Great White Bear was blowing his cold breath through the woods.

That very day the leaves of the big basswood turned brown, and were dead, but the leaves of the apple trees still shone with a glossy green. The apple tree seemed to like the frost.

Robert Robin did not sing at all, he felt as if he had lost something.

In the afternoon Mrs. Robin said: "When do we go across the lakes, and over the mountains, and along the river to the great bay?"

"We might start to-day," answered Robert Robin. "Let us call the children and go at once. We should be able to get as far as Watkins Glen, or Elmira."

"Then we could sleep in the Glen!" said Mrs. Robin.

"There are too many crows in the Glen!" said Robert Robin, "but if we reached Elmira, we might stay with Cousin Phineas, who lives on the Heights!"

"Let us call the children and start right away!" said Mrs. Robin.

All the youngster robins came hurrying at the call, except little Sheldon. But little Sheldon could not be found, and though all the robins searched and called he did not answer nor come in sight.

"Where can that child be?" said Mrs. Robin. "We cannot go south and leave him here all alone!"

"No!" said Robert Robin. "That would never do! The owls might get him!"

Jim Crow came flying along and asked, "What seems to be the trouble, folks?"

"We have lost little Sheldon!" said Robert Robin.

"Where did you lose him?" asked Jim Crow.

"We lost him from where he isn't!" said Robert Robin.

"You keep on looking where he isn't, and I will go and look where he is!" said Jim Crow, as he flew away.

"He may be playing with those Nuthatch boys!" said Mrs. Robin.

All the robins kept searching the woods for little Sheldon, but Mister Jim Crow flew over to Brigg's Brambles, and in a very short time he came hurrying back and called to Robert Robin:

"Little Sheldon is over in Brigg's Brambles playing I-spy with Billy Nuthatch!"

"Thank you very much, Mister Crow!" said Robert Robin, as he sped over to Brigg's Brambles to get little Sheldon.

Little Sheldon did not want to come away. He was playing I-spy with Billy Nuthatch, and it was his turn to go and hide, so Robert Robin said, "You may hide just this once, then we must go!"

Little Billy Nuthatch "blinded" behind a big stump, and little Sheldon whispered, "Come on, Daddy!" to Robert Robin, and both of them flew away as fast as they could. And that was the reason why little Billy Nuthatch hunted all that Fall for little Sheldon Robin, and never found him.

Robert Robin and his family were now ready to start for the south. "Across the lakes, and over the mountains, and along the river to the great bay!" repeated Robert Robin, and all the rest of the robins repeated it after him,-"Across the lakes, and over the mountains, and along the river to the great bay!"

Over the little lakes they flew, higher and higher into the air, until the mountains were crossed, and the river lay in the wide valley below them. The river itself seemed a blue ribbon on a carpet of brown and green. Hardly a sound came from below, but the noise of their own wing pinions as they whistled through the air made a sound like the panting of tiny engines,-"Swish-swish-swish-swish!" as Robert Robin led his family towards the warm south.

"Isn't that Elmira?" asked Mrs. Robin.

"Yes, my dear!" answered Robert Robin, "and we will soon be with Cousin Phineas."

In a few moments they were all perched in the tree where Cousin Phineas had his nest. But Cousin Phineas was not at home. He had gone to Big Flats after sweet corn; Mister Oliver Sparrow came fluttering into the tree and asked:

"Hi sye, Old Top, don't you know that this is not a public camping spot? We 'ave no accommodations for tourists! Better keep moving or Hi'll call the force!" That made Robert Robin very angry, and he hopped very close to where Mister Oliver Sparrow was sitting and said, "In the country where I came from, we robins do not let an impudent little sparrow even speak to us, but I will not pull the feathers out of your back this time, if you will kindly tell me where my Cousin Phineas is to-day!"

"Hi! Hi! Fellows!" shouted Oliver Sparrow. "'Ere's a country robin what is a cousin of Phin's! Come and 'elp me pick 'em!"

The sparrows came rushing at Robert Robin and his family.

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Screaming and shouting at the tops of their voices, scores of sparrows came rushing straight at Robert Robin and his family. Robert Robin was very angry, and the first sparrow that came within the reach of his strong bill, he sent reeling to the ground. Robert Robin shook the feathers from his bill and struck the next and the next. The air was full of the wicked sparrows. They came from the alleys, and from the parks, from behind the houses and stores, until a cloud of them hung above the maple tree, and filled the air with their screams.

Mrs. Robin and the youngster robins stayed close to the trunk of the maple, but Robert Robin scorned to seek shelter, and bravely fought against the great odds. Sparrow after sparrow went fluttering to the earth under the swift blows of Robert Robin's strong bill, but on they came by scores, and Robert Robin was beginning to tire.

A woman was sitting in a rocking chair by her front porch window. She was reading a book and she was not paying any attention to the birds.

Her husband was a night watch, and he slept during the day.

"What are those pesky sparrows making so much noise about?" he called from his bedroom. "They keep me awake with their heckling!"

"They are fighting some robins in the maple tree!" said the woman.

"Let the cat out!" said the man.

The woman got up from her rocking chair and let her yellow cat out of the back door.

The big yellow cat heard the sparrows screaming, and tiptoed around the house until he came in sight of the maple tree. When the big yellow cat saw the flock of sparrows in the maple tree, he said to himself, "I will creep close to those birds, then I will pounce upon one and have it for my supper!"

The big yellow cat crouched under the barberry hedge and crept towards the sparrows.

Oliver Sparrow came flying straight at Robert Robin's red breast. Quick as a flash Robert Robin struck with his strong bill, and Oliver Sparrow fell towards the ground. It was then that the big yellow cat sprang from under the hedge.

"A cat! A cat! A cat!" screamed all the sparrows, and away they flew back to the alleys, and parks, and behind the houses and stores, leaving Robert Robin, and Mrs. Robert Robin, and all their children very tired but unharmed.

"Kitty! Kitty! Kitty! Kitty! Kitty!" called the woman, and the big yellow cat went bounding across the lawn.

Just then Cousin Phineas came home.

"My stars! If there isn't Cousin Robert, and all his folks!" shouted Cousin Phineas. "Welcome to our city!"

"Glad to see you again, Cousin Phineas!" said Robert Robin. "But I cannot say that I like your neighbors!"

"Have those wicked sparrows been here again?" asked Cousin Phineas.

"I have just had a fine fight with more sparrows than I ever saw before in all my life!" said Robert Robin.

"It must have been that Oliver Sparrow and his gang!" said Cousin Phineas. "They are very bad birds! I hope they did not hurt you?"

"Not a scratch!" said Robert Robin, "but see the sparrow feathers on the ground under this tree!"

"Well! Well!" said Cousin Phineas. "There are enough sparrow feathers to make a nest!"

"I pulled one out!" shouted little Sheldon, and sure enough the bold little robin was still holding a sparrow's feather in his bill.

"He is so much like his father!" said Mrs. Robin, "and some day he will be a great big man-robin and whip all the naughty sparrows, just like Daddy does!"

"He makes me think of our young Timothy!" said Cousin Phineas. "I am sorry he is not here! He is a very bright youngster! My folks have gone south for the Winter, but you must stay overnight with me, just the same."

"We just dropped in to make a call, but, as you say, it is getting rather late, so if it is not too much trouble, we will accept your invitation to remain overnight!" said Robert Robin.

"Good! Then we will spend the night at the Reformatory!" said Cousin Phineas, as he led the way over to the Reformatory trees.

Neither Cousin Phineas nor Robert Robin felt like singing a "Good-night" song, so little Sheldon perched on the top of a tall elm and sang one himself.

"Very good, Sheldon!" said Robert Robin.

"Very good, Sheldon!" said Cousin Phineas. "You have a very remarkable youngster there, Cousin Robert! He can sing a song and knows neither the tune nor the words! Very remarkable! Very remarkable!"

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