Next day he went along the stream, till he came to the windmill. It was standing still, and Robin was quite fidgetty with curiosity. He hopped in through the dusty door, and the mice who lived there were very glad to see him. They were humble, dingy sort of people, and they thought him very lively and quite grand, because of the airs he gave himself. But, while he was telling them wonderful traveller's tales about himself and the things he had seen, suddenly the windmill sails began to turn, and everything started creaking and whirring. Robin went off so fast that he got home perfectly breathless. "My dear – the end of the world is come!" he puffed and panted. "Nothing of the sort," replied Mrs. Robin sharply. "You wait till you hear!" he exclaimed, and he told her all about it. But she didn't sympathise one bit.
"I shall be out longer to-day," said Robin next morning. "I want to see more of the world. It's a stupid, humdrum life, just pecking and flapping round a stable." "Maybe you'll go farther and fare worse," replied Mrs. Robin. "Nonsense," said he, "it's all very well for you, leading the lazy life you do, just sitting on a lot of eggs. But there, I can't expect you to understand. Ta-ta!" and he disappeared.
He crept along a blackthorn hedge, which ran through a field full of cowslips; at the foot of the hedge there was a dyke, or wide ditch with reeds and bulrushes in it every here and there. This was quite a delightful ramble for Robin, at first: but soon his curiosity began to get him into trouble. He came across a little hole and wanted to explore it – he simply loved poking and prying into other people's holes, – and Mr. Red Vole came out very snappish and snarlish. "What do you want here?" said Mr. Red Vole. "Didn't you see the notice outside: 'No tramps or hawkers'? Nobody is admitted except on business!" – "But I am on business," said Robin resentfully. "Whose?" enquired Mr. Red Vole. "Your own, or somebody else's?" – "I will give you the answer to-morrow," said Robin with a perky air, and he flew away rather quickly, for Mr. Red Vole had most disagreeable-looking teeth.
"Don't you mind him," said Tom Sedge-Warbler, who was swinging on a tall bulrush hard by. "His bark is worse than his bite. I've known him as cross as two sticks with me, because he said I kept him awake at night. I said, 'Well, here's a bit of willow-down. Stuff your ears with that.' And, would you believe it, he called me names!"
"Oh, you sing at night, do you?" said Robin.
"I sing whenever I feel like it," said Tom Sedge-Warbler. "I hate doing things at stated times. I haven't got one of your neat and tidy minds that go by the clock."