"Fat!" he burst out in a loud tone as he stared in Mrs. Wren's direction. "Who's fat?"
"You are!" said a strange, grumpy voice right behind him—or so it seemed to young Master Robin.
III
MASTER ROBIN'S LESSON
When young Master Robin heard the strange voice that sounded so grumpy and so near him he was terribly frightened. He forgot that he thought himself grown up, and very wise, and quite able to go about alone. He didn't even look to see who was speaking, but fell backwards off the limb of the apple tree.
It was lucky for him, too, that he fell just when he did. For a long brownish person, white underneath, took Master Robin's place on the limb so promptly that you could hardly have said he jumped into it from somewhere else. He seemed
to have popped out of the tree somewhat as a freshly popped kernel of corn bursts forth. A moment ago it was not there! You were watching, but did not see it grow big.
Well, all at once there was silence in the orchard. Everybody was holding his breath, waiting to see what happened to young Master Robin. Though he had lost his balance and tumbled backward he righted himself quite like an old-timer and flew off across the orchard.
"I didn't know snakes could climb trees," he stammered to Mr. Chippy, who had followed him.