"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 Grand[p. 28]father 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!