"Well——no!" Rusty Wren admitted. "I shouldn't call them big. But they certainly weren't as small as the footprints of an ant."
When they heard that, some of Rusty's friends looked relieved.
"We don't need to worry, anyhow," a number of them said to one another.
But there was one that was disappointed. That was Reddy Woodpecker.
"Why, the strangers—whoever they are—are too small for me to fight!" he cried. "And here I've wasted all this time for nothing at all!" He looked so angrily at Rusty Wren that Rusty felt very uneasy. He certainly didn't want Reddy Woodpecker to fight him!
[p. 4]Luckily Reddy did not attack Rusty. But he went away grumbling. And Rusty Wren couldn't help feeling a bit worried.
"Never mind what that rowdy says!" little Mr. Chippy advised Rusty Wren—after the quarrelsome Reddy Woodpecker had gone away. "I'm glad you told me about those strange tracks. I live near-by, in the wild grapevine on the stone wall; and I shall watch for more tracks—and those that make them, too."
"Let me know when you learn anything new!" said Rusty Wren. And Mr. Chippy said that nothing would please him more than to do just that.
Well, the very next day Mr. Chippy's son, Chippy, Jr., knocked at Rusty Wren's door (which was right beneath Farmer Green's chamber window) and told Rusty that he was wanted by the roadside at once.
[p. 5]So Rusty flew straight to the stone wall, where he found little Mr. Chippy all aflutter. Mr. Chippy dropped quickly into the road, pointing to some tiny marks in the dust.