No sooner had he got out out of Chatterer's sight than he heard
another voice. It was saying over and over:

"Dee, dee, dee! Oh, me, me!
Some folks can talk so very brave
And then such cowards be."

It was Tommy Tit the Chickadee. Reddy couldn't think of a thing to say
in reply, and so he hurried on, trying to find a place where he would
be left in peace. But nowhere that he could go was he free from those
taunting voices. Not even when he had crawled into his house was he
free from them, for buzzing around his doorway was Bumble Bee and
Bumble was humming:

"Bumble, grumble, rumble, hum!
Reddy surely can run some."

Late that afternoon old Granny Fox called him out, and it was clear to
see that Granny was very much put out about something. "What is this I
hear everywhere I go about you being a coward?" she demanded sharply,
as soon as he put his head out of the doorway.

Reddy hung his head, and in a very shamefaced way he told her about
the terrible fright he had had and all about the strange creature
without legs, head, or tail that had rolled down the hill where
Prickly Porky lives.

"Serves you right for boasting!" snapped Granny. "How many times have
I told you that no good comes of boasting? Probably somebody has
played a trick on you. I've lived a good many years, and I never