“Good afternoon, Mister Robin!” said Mrs. Partridge. “Yes, it is fine weather, but for every nice day that we get, we are almost sure to have two bad, stormy days!”
“Nonsense, Mrs. Partridge!” said Robert Robin, “I have always noticed that the more fine weather we have, the more we get! I claim that we are going to have the nicest summer this year that we have had since the year we had so many cherries!”
“I do hope that you are right, Mister Robin!” said Mrs. Partridge. “Major Partridge is always joking me because I am expecting bad weather, but I have noticed that no matter how many nice days we have, it always turns around and rains, before it gets through!”
“Certainly! It should rain, or we would all die of thirst! If no rain came out of the sky, we would not have any cherries, and the bugs would all be so dry there would not be any taste to them! We must have rain, Mrs. Partridge! We must have rain!”
“Do you enjoy rainy weather, Mister Robin?” asked Mrs. Partridge.
“I like wet weather, when it is not too wet; I like dry weather when it is not too dry; I like warm weather when it is not too warm, and I like cool weather when it is not too cool! And I have a song for each kind of weather!” said Robert Robin as he again started hunting for brown bugs.
“You seem to be looking for something, Mister Robin!” said Mrs. Partridge.
“Yes, I am hunting brown bugs!” said Robert Robin; “two of them hid under the leaves, but there must be a few more left!”
“Stir the leaves up with your feet!” said Mrs. Partridge, “then if there are any brown bugs under them you will be able to catch them!”
“I cannot make my feet go backwards!” said Robert Robin. “My feet insist on hopping! I think that I must be clumsy with my legs, for even the farmer’s big rooster can scratch the ground and dig up wonderful things. I saw him kick a worm clear through the fence!”