Still Reddy Woodpecker was not discouraged. He knocked a fifth time.
"What!" exclaimed the carpenter when he answered Reddy's tapping. "Haven't you gone yet?"
"No!" Reddy replied. "I want to say——"
"If you have anything more to tell me, write me a letter!" said the pale-faced carpenter. And he set up a sign where Reddy Woodpecker could see it: "This Is My Busy Day!" Then he passed from view.
Reddy Woodpecker stayed a long time at the poplar tree beside the brook. He knocked and knocked and knocked until at last his head began to ache. But the sawdust-covered carpenter never showed his pale face again.
XIV
MR. CROW'S QUESTIONS
If people snubbed Reddy Woodpecker he never cared. When the members of the Pleasant Valley Singing Society wouldn't let him join them he only smiled and said he intended to form a club of his own.
As soon as the bird neighbors heard of Reddy's plan they were all very curious to know more about it. But whenever anybody asked him questions he had little to say.
"You'll learn all about it later," he told them. "Please don't bother me now, for I'm a busy bird. I'm starting my club."