A Robber in the Old Orchard 



a step just behind him. He turned his head and 

 then frantically dived head first down into his 

 hole. He had looked right up into the eyes of 

 Farmer Brown's boy ! 



"Ha, ha!" cried Farmer Brown's boy, "I 

 thought as much!" And . with a long switch he 

 struck Mr. Blacksnake just as the latter had put 

 his head in that doorway, resolved to get those 

 eggs this time. But when he felt that switch 

 and heard the voice of Farmer Brown's boy he 

 changed his mind in a flash. He simply let go 

 his hold on that tree and dropped. The instant 

 he touched the ground he was off like a shot for 

 the safety of the old stone wall, Farmer Brown's 

 boy after him. Farmer Brown's boy didn't in- 

 tend to kill Mr. Blacksnake, but he did want to 

 give him such a fright that he wouldn't visit the 

 Old Orchard again in a hurry, and this he quite 

 succeeded in doing. 



No sooner had Mr. Blacksnake disappeared 

 than all the birds set up such a rejoicing that you 

 would have thought they, and not Farmer Brown's 

 boy, had saved the eggs of Mr. and Mrs. Skimmer. 

 Listening to them, Johnny Chuck just had to 

 smile. 



'[119] 



