Most of the feathered folk agreed that Mr. Blackbird ought not to have spoken[p. 55] 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."