Just then came another call, "Hoo, oo, Hoo, oo." Buddy Jim laughed. "That's Old Bob the gardener calling me home to lunch," said he, "so goodbye, and the best of luck, Little Mother Quail."
"Get any berries?" asked Old Bob the gardener. "Lots," answered Buddy Jim, "and I'll get some more tomorrow, because I'm going down again. Old Dog Sandy wouldn't come home with me—he has a new job down in the far field."
"What sort of a job?" asked Old Bob the gardener. He was always so interested in things.
"He is going to protect little Mrs. Bob White and her family from Mrs. Weasel," said Buddy Jim.
"He has his work cut out for him then," said old Bob the gardener, "because Mrs. Weasel is a very clever lady, and fond of small quail. If she is working around here I think I'll set a trap in the chicken yard, just as a hint to her to keep away from our chickens."
"Would she dare to come up here?" asked Buddy Jim. "She would so," laughed Old Bob the gardener.
Buddy Jim sighed. "What makes Mrs. Weasel so cruel and dishonest, Bob?" he asked.
"She isn't 'specially," answered the old man, "she has to get food for her family, and that's her way of doing it."
"But she frightens little Mrs. Bob White so, and it seems so cruel," said the little boy, who wanted all his Little Neighbors to be happy.