He felt very unhappy over the matter. And he even asked Reddy Woodpecker what he ought to do.
"Oh, tell your wife there are a million," Reddy Woodpecker suggested. "If she doesn't believe you, let her count them herself!"
"Oh, I couldn't do that," said Jolly Robin.
"Well, I say there are a million," Reddy declared. Then he picked and ate another berry. "Now there are nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine," he announced. "Go home and tell your wife I said so."
So Jolly Robin went. He went and told Mrs. Robin what Reddy Woodpecker had said.
She turned her back on him and exclaimed, "Fiddlesticks!"
XIII
THE CARPENTER
One day Reddy Woodpecker was tap, tap, tapping on a tall poplar that grew beside the brook. He had discovered a tiny opening in the bark and he wanted to see what was at the further end of it.
Suddenly a voice called out, "Well, well, well! What is it?" And a pale-faced person not unlike Buster Bumblebee peered out at Reddy Woodpecker. He was careful to keep safely out of reach of Reddy's horny tongue. "I hope," said the dweller in the poplar, "you're not wanting me to build you a house. I can't work for you just now. I'm very busy to-day, making an addition to my own house."