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+Project Gutenberg's The Life and Perambulations of a Mouse, by Dorothy Kilner
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Life and Perambulations of a Mouse
+
+Author: Dorothy Kilner
+
+Posting Date: October 15, 2008 [EBook #1904]
+Release Date: September, 1999
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF A MOUSE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Pat Pflieger
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFE AND PERAMBULATIONS OF A MOUSE
+
+(1783-1784)
+
+by Dorothy Kilner
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+During a remarkably severe winter, when a prodigious fall of snow
+confined everybody to their habitations, who were happy enough to have
+one to shelter them from the inclemency of the season, and were hot
+obliged by business to expose themselves to its rigour, I was on a visit
+to Meadow Hall; where had assembled likewise a large party of young
+folk, who all seemed, by their harmony and good humour, to strive who
+should the most contribute to render pleasant that confinement which we
+were all equally obliged to share. Nor were those further advanced
+in life less anxious to contribute to the general satisfaction and
+entertainment.
+
+After the more serious employment of reading each morning was concluded,
+we danced, we sung, we played at blind-man's-buff, battledore and
+shuttlecock, and many other games equally diverting and innocent; and
+when tired of them, drew our seats round the fire, while each one in
+turn told some merry story to divert the company.
+
+At last, after having related all that we could recollect worth
+reciting, and being rather at a loss what to say next, a sprightly girl
+in company proposed that every one should relate the history of their
+own lives; 'and it must be strange indeed,' added she, 'if that will not
+help us out of this difficulty, and furnish conversation for some days
+longer; and by that time, perhaps, the frost will break, the snow will
+melt, and set us all at liberty. But let it break when it will, I make a
+law, that no one shall go from Meadow Hall till they have told their own
+history: so take notice, ladies and gentlemen, take notice, everybody,
+what you have to trust to. And because,' continued she, 'I will not be
+unreasonable, and require more from you than you can perform, I will
+give all you who may perhaps have forgotten what passed so many years
+ago, at the beginning of your lives, two days to recollect and digest
+your story; by which time if you do not produce something pretty and
+entertaining, we will never again admit you to dance or play among us.'
+All this she spoke with so good-humoured a smile, that every one was
+delighted with her, and promised to do their best to acquit themselves
+to her satisfaction; whilst some (the length of whose lives had not
+rendered them forgetful of the transactions which had passed) instantly
+began their memoirs, as they called them: and really some related their
+narratives with such spirit and ingenuity, that it quite distressed us
+older ones, lest we should disgrace ourselves when it should fall to
+our turns to hold forth. However, we were all determined to produce
+something, as our fair directress ordered. Accordingly, the next morning
+I took up my pen, to endeavour to draw up some kind of a history, which
+might satisfy my companions in confinement. I took up my pen, it is
+true, and laid the paper before me; but not one word toward my appointed
+task could I proceed. The various occurrences of my life were such as,
+far from affording entertainment, would, I was certain, rather afflict;
+or, perhaps, not interesting enough for that, only stupefy, and render
+them more weary of the continuation of the frost than they were before I
+began my narration. Thus circumstanced, therefore, although by myself,
+I broke silence by exclaiming, 'What a task his this sweet girl
+imposed upon me! One which I shall never be able to execute to my own
+satisfaction or her amusement. The adventures of my life (though deeply
+interesting to myself) will be insipid and unentertaining to others,
+especially to my young hearers: I cannot, therefore, attempt it.'--'Then
+write mine, which may be more diverting,' said a little squeaking voice,
+which sounded as if close to me. I started with surprise, not knowing
+any one to be near me; and looking round, could discover no object from
+whom it could possibly proceed, when casting my eyes upon the ground, in
+a little hole under the skirting-board, close by the fire, I discovered
+the head of a mouse peeping out. I arose with a design to stop the
+hole with a cork, which happened to lie on the table by me; and I was
+surprised to find that it did not run away, but suffered me to advance
+quite close, and then only retreated a little into the hole, saying in
+the same voice as before, 'Will you write my history?' You may be sure
+that I was much surprised to be so addressed by such an animal; but,
+ashamed of discovering any appearance of astonishment, lest the
+mouse should suppose it had frightened me, I answered with the utmost
+composure, that I would write it willingly if it would dictate to
+me. 'Oh, that I will do,' replied the mouse, 'if you will not hurt
+me.'--'Not for the world,' returned I; 'come, therefore, and sit upon
+my table, that I may hear more distinctly what you have to relate.' It
+instantly accepted my invitation, and with all the nimbleness of its
+species, ran up the side of my chair, and jumped upon my table; when,
+getting into a box of wafers, it began as follows.
+
+
+
+But, before I proceed to relate my new little companion's history, I
+must beg leave to assure my readers that, in earnest, I never heard a
+mouse speak in all my life; and only wrote the following narrative as
+being far more entertaining, and not less instructive, than my own life
+would have been: and as it met with the high approbation of those for
+whom it was written, I have sent it to Mr. Marshall, for him to publish
+it, if he pleases, for the equal amusement of his little customers.
+
+
+
+
+PART I.
+
+Like all other newborn animals, whether of the human, or any other
+species, I can not pretend to remember what passed during my infant
+days. The first circumstance I can recollect was my mother's addressing
+me and my three brothers, who all lay in the same nest, in the following
+words:-'I have, my children, with the greatest difficulty, and at the
+utmost hazard of my life, provided for you all to the present moment;
+but the period is arrived, when I can no longer pursue that method:
+snares and traps are everywhere set for me, nor shall I, without
+infinite danger, be able to procure sustenance to support my own
+existence, much less can I find sufficient for you all; and, indeed,
+with pleasure I behold it as no longer necessary, since you are of
+age now to provide and shift for yourselves; and I doubt not but your
+agility will enable you to procure a very comfortable livelihood. Only
+let me give you this one caution--never (whatever the temptation may
+be) appear often in the same place; if you do, however you may flatter
+yourselves to the contrary, you will certainly at last be destroyed.'
+So saying, she stroked us all with her fore paw as a token of her
+affection, and then hurried away, to conceal from us the emotions of her
+sorrow, at thus sending us into the wide world.
+
+She was no sooner gone, than the thought of being our own directors so
+charmed our little hearts, that we presently forgot our grief at parting
+from our kind parent; and, impatient to use our liberty, we all set
+forward in search of some food, or rather some adventure, as our mother
+had left us victuals more than sufficient to supply the wants of that
+day. With a great deal of difficulty, we clambered up a high wall on the
+inside of a wainscot, till we reached the story above that we were
+born in, where we found it much easier to run round within the
+skirting-board, than to ascend any higher.
+
+While we were there, our noses were delightfully regaled with the scent
+of the most delicate food that we had ever smelt; we were anxious to
+procure a taste of it likewise, and after running round and round the
+room a great many times, we at last discovered a little crack, through
+which we made our entrance. My brother Longtail led the way; I followed;
+Softdown came next; but Brighteyes would not be prevailed upon to
+venture. The apartment which we entered was spacious and elegant; at
+least, differed so greatly from anything we had seen, that we imagined
+it the finest place upon earth. It was covered all over with a carpet of
+various colours, that not only concealed some bird-seeds which we came
+to devour, but also for some time prevented our being discovered; as
+we were of much the same hue with many of the flowers on the carpet.
+At last a little girl, who was at work in the room, by the side of her
+mamma, shrieked out as if violently hurt. Her mamma begged to know the
+cause of her sudden alarm. Upon which she called out, 'A mouse! a mouse!
+I saw one under the chair!' 'And if you did, my dear,' replied her
+mother, 'is that any reason for your behaving so ridiculously? If there
+were twenty mice, what harm could they possibly do? You may easily hurt
+and destroy then; but, poor little things! they cannot, if they would,
+hurt you.' 'What, could they not bite me?' inquired the child. 'They
+may, indeed, be able to do that; but you may be very sure that they have
+no such inclination,' rejoined the mother. 'A mouse is one of the most
+timorous things in the world; every noise alarms it: and though it
+chiefly lives by plunder, it appears as if punished by its fears for the
+mischiefs which it commits among our property. It is therefore highly
+ridiculous to pretend to be alarmed at the sight of a creature that
+would run from the sound of your voice, and wishes never to come near
+you, lest, as you are far more able, you should also be disposed to
+hurt it.' 'But I am sure, madam,' replied the little girl, whose name I
+afterwards heard was Nancy, 'they do not always run away; for one day,
+as Miss Betsy Kite was looking among some things which she had in her
+box, a mouse jumped out and ran up her frock sleeve--she felt it quite
+up on her arm.' 'And what became of it then?' inquired the mother. 'It
+jumped down again,' replied Nancy, 'and got into a little hole in the
+window-seat; and Betsy did not see it again.' 'Well, then, my dear,'
+resumed the lady, 'what harm did it do her? Is not that a convincing
+proof of what I say, that you have no cause to be afraid of them, and
+that it is very silly to be so? It is certainly foolish to be afraid of
+any thing, unless it threatens us with immediate danger; but to pretend
+to be so at a mouse, and such like inoffensive things, is a degree of
+weakness that I can by no means suffer any of my children to indulge.'
+'May I then, madam,' inquired the child, 'be afraid of cows and horses,
+and such great beasts as those?' 'Certainly not,' answered her mother,
+'unless they are likely to hurt you. If a cow or an horse runs after
+you, I would have you fear them so much as to get out of the way; but if
+they are quietly walking or grazing in a field, then to fly from them,
+as if you thought they would eat you instead of the grass, is most
+absurd, and discovers great want of sense. I once knew a young lady,
+who, I believe, thought it looked pretty to be terrified at everything,
+and scream if dog or even a mouse looked at her: but most severely was
+she punished for her folly, by several very disagreeable accidents she
+by those means brought upon herself.
+
+'One day when she was drinking tea in a large company, on the door being
+opened, a small Italian greyhound walked into the drawing-room. She
+happened to be seated near the mistress of the dog, who was making tea:
+the dog, therefore, walked toward her, in order to be by his favourite;
+but, upon his advancing near her, she suddenly jumped up, without
+considering what she was about, overturned the water-urn, the hot iron
+of which rolling out, set fire to her clothes, which instantly blazed
+up, being only muslin, and burnt her arms, face, and neck, most
+dreadfully: she was so much hurt as to be obliged to be put immediately
+to bed; nor did she recover enough to go abroad for many months. Now,
+though every one was sorry for her sufferings, who could possibly help
+blaming her for her ridiculous behaviour, as it was entirely owing to
+her own folly that she was so hurt? When she was talked to upon the
+subject, she pleaded for her excuse, that she was so frightened she did
+not know what she did, nor whither she was going; but as she thought
+that the dog was coming to her she could not help jumping up, to get out
+of his way. Now what ridiculous arguing was this! Why could not she help
+it? And if the dog had really been going to her, what harm would it have
+done? Could she suppose that the lady whose house she was at, would have
+suffered a beast to walk about the house loose, and go into company,
+if he was apt to bite and hurt people? Or why should she think he would
+more injure her, than those he had before passed by? But the real case
+was, she did not think at all; if she had given herself time for that,
+she could not have acted so ridiculously. Another time, when she was
+walking, from the same want of reflection, she very nearly drowned
+herself. She was passing over a bridge, the outside rails of which were
+in some places broken down: while she was there, some cows, which a man
+was driving, met her: immediately, without minding whither she went,
+she shrieked out, and at the same time jumped on one side just where the
+rail happened to be broken, and down she fell into the river; nor was
+it without the greatest difficulty that she was taken out time enough
+to save her life. However, she caught a violent cold and fever, and was
+again, by her own foolish fears, confined to her bed for some weeks.
+Another accident she once met with, which though not quite so bad as the
+two former, yet might have been attended with fatal consequences. She
+was sitting in a window, when a wasp happened to fly toward her; she
+hastily drew back her head, and broke the pane of glass behind her, some
+of which stuck in her neck. It bled prodigiously; but a surgeon happily
+being present, made some application to it, which prevented its being
+followed by any other ill effects than only a few days weakness,
+occasioned by the loss of blood. Many other misfortunes of the like kind
+she frequently experienced; but these which I have now related may serve
+to convince you how extremely absurd it is for people to give way to
+and indulge themselves in such groundless apprehensions, and, by being
+afraid when there is no danger, subject themselves to real misfortunes
+and most fatal accidents. And if being afraid of cows, dogs, and wasps
+(all of which, if they please, can certainly hurt us) is so ridiculous,
+what must be the folly of those people who are terrified at a little
+silly mouse, which never was known to hurt anybody?'
+
+Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of some gentlemen
+and ladies; and we having enjoyed a very fine repast under one of the
+chairs during the time that the mother and daughter had held the above
+discourse, on the chairs being removed for some of the visitors to sit
+upon, we thought it best to retire: highly pleased with our meal,
+and not less with the kind goodwill which the lady had, we thought,
+expressed towards us. We related to our brother Brighteyes all that had
+passed, and assured him he had no reason to apprehend any danger from
+venturing himself with us. Accordingly he promised, if such was the
+case, that the next time we went and found it safe, if we would return
+back and call him, he would certainly accompany us. 'In the mean time,
+do pray, Nimble,' said he, addressing himself to me, 'come with me to
+some other place, for I long to taste some more delicate food than our
+mother has provided for us: besides, as perhaps it may be a long while
+before we shall be strong enough to bring anything away with us, we had
+better leave that, in case we should ever be prevented from going abroad
+to seek for fresh supplies.' 'Very true,' replied I; 'what you say is
+quite just and wise, therefore I will with all my heart attend you now,
+and see what we can find.' So saying, we began to climb; but not without
+difficulty, for very frequently the bits of mortar which we stepped upon
+gave way beneath our feet, and tumbled us down together with them lower
+than when we first set off. However, as we were very light, we were not
+much hurt by our falls; only indeed poor Brighteyes, by endeavouring to
+save himself, caught by his nails on a rafter, and tore one of them from
+off his right fore-foot, which was very sore and inconvenient. At
+length we surmounted all difficulties, and, invited by a strong scent
+of plum-cake, entered a closet, where we found a fine large one, quite
+whole and entire. We immediately set about making our way into it, which
+we easily effected, as it was most deliciously nice, and not at all hard
+to our teeth.
+
+Brighteyes, who had not before partaken of the bird-seed, was overjoyed
+at the sight. He almost forgot the pain of his foot, and soon buried
+himself withinside the cake; whilst I, who had pretty well satisfied
+my hunger before, only ate a few of the crumbs, and then went to take a
+survey of the adjoining apartment. I crept softly under the door of the
+closet into a room, as large as that which I had before been in, though
+not so elegantly furnished; for, instead of being covered with a carpet,
+there was only a small one round the bed; and near the fire was a
+cradle, with a cleanly-looking woman sitting by it, rocking it with her
+foot, whilst at the same time she was combing the head of a little boy
+about four years old. In the middle of the room stood a table, covered
+with a great deal of litter; and in one corner was the little girl whom
+I had before seen with her mamma, crying and sobbing as if her heart
+would break. As I made not the least noise at my entrance, no one
+observed me for some time; so creeping under one of the beds, I heard
+the following discourse:--
+
+'It does not signify, miss,' said the woman, who I found was the
+children's nurse, 'I never will put up with such behaviour: you know
+that I always do everything for you when you speak prettily; but to be
+ordered to dress you in such a manner, is what I never will submit to:
+and you shall go undressed all day before I will dress you, unless you
+ask me as you ought to do.' Nancy made no reply, but only continued
+crying. 'Aye! you may cry and sob as much as you please,' said the
+nurse; 'I do not care for that: I shall not dress you for crying and
+roaring, but for being good and speaking with civility.' Just as she
+said these words, the door opened, and in came the lady whom I before
+saw, and whose name I afterwards found was Artless. As soon as she
+entered, the nurse addressed her, saying, 'Pray, madam, is it by
+your desire that Miss Nancy behaves so rudely, and bids me dress her
+directly, and change the buckles in her shoes, or else she will slap my
+face? Indeed she did give me a slap upon my hand; so I told her, that I
+would not dress her at all; for really, madam, I thought you would
+not wish me to do it, whilst she behaved so; and I took the liberty
+of putting her to stand in the corner.' 'I do not think,' replied Mrs.
+Artless, 'that she deserves to stand in the room at all, or in the house
+either, if she behaves in that manner: if she does not speak civilly
+when she wants to be assisted, let her go without help, and see what
+will become of her then. I am quite ashamed of you, Nancy! I could not
+have thought you would behave so; but since you have, I promise that you
+shall not be dressed today, or have any assistance given you, unless you
+speak in a very different manner.'
+
+Whilst Mrs. Artless was talking, nurse went out of the room. Mrs.
+Artless then took her seat by the cradle, and looking into it, found
+the child awake, and I saw her take out a fine little girl, about five
+months old: she then continued her discourse, saying, 'Look here, Nancy,
+look at this little baby, see how unable it is to help itself; were
+we to neglect attending to it, what do you think would become of it?
+Suppose I were now to put your sister upon the floor, and there leave
+her, tell me what do you think she could do, or what would become
+of her?' Nancy sobbed out, that she would die. 'And pray, my dear,'
+continued Mrs. Artless, 'if we were to leave you to yourself, what would
+become of you? It is true, you talk and run about better than Polly: but
+not a bit better could you provide for, or take care of yourself. Could
+you buy or dress your own victuals? could you light your own fire? could
+you clean your own house, or open and shut the doors and windows? could
+you make your own clothes, or even put them on without some assistance,
+when made? And who do you think will do anything for you, if you are
+not good, and do not speak civilly? Not I, I promise you, neither shall
+nurse, nor any of the servants; for though I pay them wages to help to
+do my business for me, I never want them to do anything unless they are
+desired in a pretty manner. Should you like, if when I want you to
+pick up my scissors, or do any little job, I were to say, "Pick up my
+scissors this moment, or I will slap your face?" Should not you think
+that it sounded very cross and disagreeable?' 'Yes, madam,' replied
+Nancy. 'Then why,' rejoined Mrs. Artless, 'should you speak cross to
+anybody, particularly to servants and poor people? for to behave so to
+them, is not only cross, but insolent and proud: it is as if you thought
+that because they are rather poorer, they are not so good as yourself,
+whereas, I assure you, poverty makes no difference in the merit of
+people; for those only are deserving of respect who are truly good; and
+a beggar who is virtuous, is far better than a prince who is wicked.' I
+was prevented from hearing any more of this very just discourse, by the
+little boy's opening the door and letting in a cat; which, though it was
+the first that I had ever seen in my life, I was certain was the same
+destructive animal to our race, which I had frequently heard my mother
+describe. I therefore made all possible haste back to the closet, and
+warning Brighteyes of our danger, we instantly returned by the same way
+which we came, to our two brothers, whom we found waiting for us, and
+wondering at our long absence. We related to them the dainty cheer which
+we had met with, and agreed to conduct them thither in the evening.
+Accordingly, as soon as it grew towards dusk, we climbed up the wall,
+and all four together attacked the plum-cake, which no one had touched
+since we left it; but scarcely had we all seated ourselves round it,
+than on a sudden the closet-door opened, and a woman entered. Away we
+all scampered as fast as possible, but poor Brighteyes, who could not
+move quite so fast on account of his sore toe, and who likewise having
+advanced farther into the cake, was discovered before he could reach
+the crack by which we entered. The woman, who had a knife in her hand,
+struck at him with it, at the same time exclaiming, 'Bless me, nurse,
+here is a mouse in the closet!' Happily, she missed her aim, and he only
+received a small wound on the tip of his tail. This interruption sadly
+alarmed us, and it was above an hour before we could have courage to
+venture back, when finding everything quiet, except Mrs. Nurse's singing
+to her child, we again crept out, and once more surrounded the cake. We
+continued without any further alarm till we were perfectly satisfied,
+and then retired to a little distance behind the wainscot, determined
+there to sleep, and to breakfast on the cake the next day.
+
+Early in the morning I waked, and calling my brothers, we all marched
+forward, and soon arrived at the delightful cake, where we highly
+enjoyed ourselves without the least disturbance, till our appetites were
+fully satisfied. We then retired, took a little run round some other
+parts of the house, but met with nothing worth relating. At noon we
+again made our way into the closet, intending to dine on the dish on
+which we breakfasted; but, to our no small mortification, the delicious
+dainty was removed. This you may be sure was a sad disappointment; yet
+as we were not extremely hungry, we had time to look about for more. We
+were not long in finding it; for upon the same shelf from which the cake
+was removed, there was a round tin box, the lid of which was not quite
+close shut down; into this we all crept, and were highly regaled with
+some nice lumps of sugar. But it would be endless to enumerate all the
+various repasts which we met with in this closet, sometimes terrified
+by the entrance of people, and sometimes comfortably enjoying ourselves
+without alarm: it is sufficient to inform you, that, unmindful of our
+mother's advice, we continued to live upon the contents of the same
+cupboard for above a week; when, one evening, as we were as usual
+hastening to find our suppers, Softdown, who happened to be first, ran
+eagerly to a piece of cheese, which he saw hanging before him. 'Come
+along,' said he, 'here is some nice cheese, it smells most delightfully
+good!' Just as he spoke these words, before any of us came up to him, a
+little wooden door on a sudden dropped down, and hid him and the cheese
+from our sight.
+
+It is impossible to describe our consternation and surprise upon this
+occasion, which was greatly increased when we advanced near the place,
+at seeing him (through some little wire bars) confined in a small box,
+without any visible way for him to get out, and hearing him in the most
+moving accents beg us to assist him in procuring his liberty. We all
+ran round and round his place of confinement several times; but not the
+least crack or opening could we discover, except through the bars, which
+being of iron, it was impossible for us to break or bend. At length we
+determined to try to gnaw through the wood-work close at the edge, which
+being already some little distance from one of the bars, we hoped, by
+making the opening a little wider, he would escape: accordingly we all
+began, he on the inside, and we all on the out, and by our diligence had
+made some very considerable progress, when we were interrupted by the
+entrance of Mrs. Nurse with the child in her arms.
+
+Upon the sight of her, though much grieved to leave our brother in his
+distress, yet fearing instant death would be the fate of all of us if we
+stayed, to preserve our own existence, we retired as quick as possible,
+but not without her seeing some of us, for we heard her say to herself,
+or to the babe in her arms, 'I declare, this closet swarms with mice,
+they spoil everything one puts here.' Then taking up the box in which
+was poor Softdown (and which I afterwards learned was called a trap) she
+carried it into the room. I crept softly after her, to see what would
+be the fate of my beloved brother. But what words can express my horror,
+when I saw her holding it in one hand close to the candle, whilst in the
+other she held the child, singing to her with the utmost composure, and
+bidding her to look at the mousy! mousy!
+
+What were the actions or sensations of poor Softdown at that dreadful
+moment I know not: but my own anguish, which it is impossible to
+describe, was still augmented every moment by seeing her shake the trap
+almost topsy-turvy, then blow through the trap at one end, at which
+times I saw the dear creature's tail come out between the wires on the
+contrary side, as he was striving, I suppose, to retreat from her. At
+length, after she had thus tortured him for some time, she set the trap
+on the table, so close to a large fire, that I am sure he must have been
+much incommoded by the heat, and began to undress her child.
+
+Then hearing somebody go by the door, she cried out, 'Who is there?
+is it you, Betty? if it is, I wish you would come and take down the
+mouse-trap, for I have caught a mouse.' Betty instantly obeyed her
+call, and desired to know what she wanted. 'I want you to take down the
+mouse-trap,' she replied, 'for I cannot leave the child. I am glad that
+I have got it, I am sure, for the closet swarms so, there is no such
+thing as bearing it. They devour everything: I declare they have eaten
+up a whole pound of sugar, which cost me elevenpence, sugar is now so
+monstrously dear! indeed the man made a favour to let me have it for
+that; only, he said, as our family were good customers, and I was but a
+servant, he would take no more. And enough too I thought it was, to have
+only a penny back in change out of a whole shilling for one pound of
+sugar: and then to think of the poison mice to have it all; but I will
+break their filthy necks. Do, Betty, pray take the trap down, and return
+with it as soon as you can, and I will set it again: for I dare say I
+shall catch another before I go to bed, for I heard some more rustling
+among the things.' 'O lauk!' replied Betty, 'you do not think that I
+will take down the trap, do you? I would not touch it for twenty pounds.
+I am always frightened, and ready to die at the sight of a mouse. Once,
+when I was a girl, I had one thrown in my face, and ever since I have
+always been scared out of my wits at them; and if ever I see one running
+loose, as I did one night in the closet below stairs, where the candles
+are kept, I scream as if I was being killed.' 'Why then,' answered
+Nurse, 'I think you behave like a great fool, for what harm could a
+mouse do to you?' 'O la! I hate them,' returned she, and then ran away
+without the trap. Greatly was I rejoiced at her departure, as I hoped
+that, by some means, Softdown might still be able to make his escape.
+But, alas! no such good fortune attended him. Some person again passing
+the door, Nurse once more called out, 'Who is there? John is it you?'
+'Yes,' replied a man's voice. 'Then do you step in, will you, for a
+moment?' rejoined Mrs. Nurse: and instantly entered a man whom I had
+never before seen. 'What do you want, Nurse?' said he. 'I only want to
+get rid of a mouse,' returned she; 'and, do you know, Betty is such
+a fool that she is afraid of taking it, and I want the trap to set it
+again, for they swarm here like bees in a hive, one can have no peace
+for them: they devour and spoil every thing; I say sometimes that I
+believe they will eat me up at last.' While she was saying this, John
+took the trap in his hand, held it up once more to the candle, then
+taking a piece of thread out of a paper, that lay bound round with a
+dirty blue ribbon upon the table, he shook the trap about till he got my
+brother's tail through the wires, when catching hold of it, he tied the
+thread tight round it and dragged him by it to the door of the trap,
+which he opened, and took him out, suspending the weight of his body
+upon his tail.
+
+Softdown, who till the thread was tied had patiently continued perfectly
+quiet, could no longer support the pain without dismal cries and
+anguish: he squeaked as loud as his little throat would let him,
+exerting at the same time the utmost of his strength to disengage
+himself. But in such a position, with his head downward, in vain were
+all his efforts to procure relief; and the barbarous monster who held
+him discovered not the smallest emotions of pity for his sufferings. Oh!
+how at that moment did I abhor my own existence, and wish that I could
+be endowed with size and strength sufficient, at once both to rescue
+him, and severely punish his tormentors. But my wish was ineffectual,
+and I had the inexpressible affliction of seeing the inhuman wretch
+hold him down upon the hearth, whilst, without remorse, he crushed him
+beneath his foot, and then carelessly kicked him into the ashes, saying,
+'There! The cat will smell it out when she comes up.' My very blood runs
+cold within me at the recollection of seeing Softdown's as it spurted
+from beneath the monster's foot; whilst the crunch of his bones
+almost petrified me with horror. At length, however, recollecting the
+impossibility of restoring my beloved brother to life, and the danger
+of my own situation, I, with trembling feet and palpitating heart, crept
+softly back to my remaining two brothers, who were impatiently expecting
+me behind the closet. There I related to them the horrid scene which
+had passed before my eyes, whilst the anguish it caused in their gentle
+bosoms far exceeds my power to describe.
+
+After having mingled our lamentations for some time, I thus addressed
+them: 'We have this night, my brothers, tasted the severest affliction
+in the cruel death of our dear brother, companion, and friend; let
+us not, however, only mourn his loss, but also gather wisdom from our
+misfortune, and return to that duty which we have hitherto neglected.
+Recollect, my dear friends, what were the last words which our good
+mother spoke to us at parting. She charged us, upon no account, for no
+temptation whatever, to return frequently to the same place: if we did,
+she forewarned us that death and ruin would certainly await us. But in
+what manner have we obeyed this her kind advice? We have not even so
+much as once recollected it since she left us; or, if we thought of it
+for a moment, we foolishly despised it as unnecessary. Now, therefore,
+we sincerely feel the consequence of our disobedience; and, though
+our sufferings are most distressing, yet we must confess that we amply
+deserve them. Let us therefore, my brothers, instantly fly from a place
+which has already cost us the life of our beloved Softdown, lest we
+should all likewise fall a sacrifice to our disobedience.'--And here the
+writer cannot help observing how just were the reflections of the mouse
+on the crime which they had been guilty of; and begs every reader
+will be careful to remember the fatal consequences that attended their
+disobedience of their mother's advice, since they may be assured that
+equal if not the same misfortune will always attend those who refuse
+to pay attention to the advice of their parents. But, to return to the
+history.
+
+To this proposal (continued the mouse) my brothers readily agreed; and
+we directly descended to the place we were in when we discovered the
+crack that led us to the room in which we feasted on bird-seed. Here
+we determined to wait, and when the family were all quiet in bed, to
+go forth in search of provision, as we began to be rather hungry, not
+having eaten anything a long while. Accordingly we stayed till after the
+clock struck twelve, when peeping out, we saw that the room was empty:
+we then ventured forth, and found several seeds, though not enough to
+afford a very ample meal for three of us.
+
+After we had cleared the room, we again returned to our hiding-place,
+where we continued till after the family had finished their breakfast.
+They all then went to take a walk in the garden, and we stepped out to
+pick up the crumbs which had fallen from the table. Whilst we were thus
+employed, at a distance from our place of retreat, we were alarmed by
+the entrance of two boys, who appeared to be about twelve or thirteen
+years of age. We directly ran towards the crack; but alas! we were not
+quick enough to escape their observation; for, seeing us, they both at
+once exclaimed, 'Some mice! some mice!' and at the same time took off
+their hats, and threw at us. Longtail happily eluded the blow, and
+safely got home, but poor Brighteyes and myself were less fortunate;
+and though we for a considerable time, by our quickness, prevented their
+catching us, at length, being much disabled by a blow that one of them
+gave me with a book which he threw at me, I was unable any longer to
+run, and hobbling very slowly across the room, he picked me up. At the
+same moment Brighteyes was so entangled in a handkerchief which the
+other boy tossed over him, that he likewise was taken prisoner. Our
+little hearts now beat quick with fear of those tortures we expected to
+receive; nor were our apprehensions lessened by hearing the boys consult
+what they should do with us, 'I,' said one, 'will throw mine into the
+pond, and see how he will swim out again.' 'And I,' said the other,
+'will keep mine and tame it.' 'But where will you keep it?' inquired his
+companion. 'Oh,' replied he, 'I will keep it under a little pan till
+I can get a house made for it.' He then, holding me by the skin at the
+back of my neck, ran with me into the kitchen to fetch a pan. Here I was
+not only threatened with death by three or four of the servants, who all
+blamed Master Peter for keeping me; but likewise two or three cats came
+round him, rubbing themselves backward and forward against his legs, and
+then standing upon their hind feet to endeavour to make themselves high
+enough to reach me. At last, taking a pan in his hand, he returned to
+his brother with one of the cats following him. Immediately upon our
+entrance, the boy exclaimed, 'Oh, now I know what I will do: I will tie
+a piece of string to its tail, and teach the cat to jump for it.' No
+sooner did this thought present itself than it was put into practice,
+and I again was obliged to sustain the shocking sight of a brother put
+to the torture. I, in the mean time, was placed upon the table, with a
+pan put over me, in which there was a crack, so that I could see as well
+as hear all that passed: and from this place it was that I beheld my
+beloved Brighteyes suspended at one end of a string by his tail; one
+while swinging backward and forward, at another pulled up and down, then
+suffered to feel his feet on the ground, and again suddenly snatched up
+as the cat advanced, then twisted round and round as fast as possible
+at the full length of the string: in short, it is impossible to describe
+all his sufferings of body, or my anguish of mind. At length a most
+dreadful conclusion was put to them, by the entrance of a gentleman
+booted and spurred, with a whip in his hand. 'What in the world,
+Charles!' said he, as he came in, 'are you about? What have you got
+there?' 'Only a mouse, sir,' replied the boy. 'He is teaching the cat to
+jump, sir,' said Peter, 'that is all.'
+
+Brighteyes then gave a fresh squeak from the violence of his pain. The
+gentleman then turning hastily round, exclaimed eagerly, 'What, is it
+alive?' 'Yes, sir,' said the boy. 'And how can you, you wicked, naughty,
+cruel boy,' replied the gentleman, 'take delight in thus torturing a
+little creature that never did you any injury? Put it down this moment,'
+said he, at the same time giving him a severe stroke with his horse-whip
+across that hand by which he held my brother. 'Let it go directly,' and
+again repeated the blow: the boy let go the string, and Brighteyes fell
+to the ground; and was instantly snapped up by the cat, who growling,
+ran away with him in her mouth, and, I suppose, put a conclusion to his
+miseries and life together, as I never from that moment have heard any
+account of him.
+
+As soon as he was thus taken out of the room, the gentleman sat down,
+and, taking hold of his son's hand, thus addressed him: 'Charles, I had
+a much better opinion of you, than to suppose you were capable of so
+much cruelty. What right, I desire to know, have you to torment any
+living creature? If it is only be cause you are larger, and so have it
+in your power, I beg you will consider, how you would like, that either
+myself, or some great giant, as much larger than you as you are bigger
+than the mouse, should hurt and torment you? And I promise you, the
+smallest creature can feel as acutely as you, nay, the smaller they are,
+the more susceptible are they of pain, and the sooner they are hurt: a
+less touch will kill a fly than a man, consequently a less wound will
+cause it pain; and the mouse which you have now been swinging by the
+tail over the cat's mouth, has not, you may assure yourself, suffered
+less torment or fright than you would have done, had you been suspended
+by your leg, either over water, which would drown you, or over stones,
+where if you fell you must certainly be dashed to pieces. And yet you
+could take delight in thus torturing and distressing a poor inoffensive
+animal. Fie upon it, Charles! fie upon it! I thought you had been a
+better boy, and not such a cruel, naughty, wicked fellow.' 'Wicked!'
+repeated the boy, 'I do not think that I have been at all wicked.' 'But
+I think you have been extremely so,' replied his father; 'every action
+that is cruel, and gives pain to any living creature, is wicked, and
+is a sure sign of a bad heart. I never knew a man, who was cruel to
+animals, kind and compassionate towards his fellow-creatures: he might
+not perhaps treat them in the same shocking manner, because the laws of
+the land would severely punish him if he did; but if he is restrained
+from bad actions by no higher motive than fear of present punishment,
+his goodness cannot be very great. A good man, Charles, always takes
+delight in conferring happiness on all around him; nor would he offer
+the smallest injury to the meanest insect that was capable of feeling.
+'I am sure,' said the boy, 'I have often seen you kill wasps, and
+spiders too; and it was but last week that you bought a mouse-trap
+yourself to catch mice in, although you are so angry now with me.' 'And
+pray,' resumed his father, 'did you ever see me torment as well as kill
+them? Or did I ever keep them in pain one moment longer than necessary?
+I am not condemning people for killing vermin and animals, provided
+they do it expeditiously, and put them to death with as little pain as
+possible; but it is putting them to needless torment and misery that
+I say is wicked. Had you destroyed the mouse with one blow, or rather
+given it to somebody else to destroy it (for I should not think a
+tender-hearted boy would delight in such operations himself), I would
+not have condemned you; but, to keep it hanging the whole weight of
+its body upon its tail, to swing it about, and, by that, to hold it
+terrifying over the cat's jaws, and to take pleasure in hearing it
+squeak, and seeing it struggle for liberty, is such unmanly, such
+detestable cruelty, as calls for my utmost indignation and abhorrence.
+But, since you think pain so very trifling an evil, try. Charles, how
+you like that,' said he, giving him at the same time some severe strokes
+with his horsewhip. The boy then cried, and called out, 'I do not like
+it at all, I do not like it at all.' 'Neither did the mouse,' replied
+his father, 'like at all to be tied to a string, and swung about by
+his tail: he did not like it, and told you so in a language which you
+perfectly well understood; but you would not attend to his cries; you
+thought it pleasure to hear it squeak, because you were bigger, and did
+not feel its torture. I am now bigger than you and do not feel your
+pain. I therefore shall not yet leave off; as I hope it will teach you
+not to torment anything another time.' Just as he said these words, the
+boy, endeavouring to avoid the whip, ran against the table on which I
+was placed, and happily threw down the pan that confined me. I instantly
+seized the opportunity, jumped down, and once more escaped to the little
+hole by which I first entered. There I found my only brother waiting
+for me, and was again under the dreadful necessity of paining his tender
+heart with the recital of the sufferings which I had been witness to in
+our dear Brighteyes, as well as the imminent danger I myself had been
+exposed to. 'And, surely,' said I, 'we have again drawn this evil upon
+ourselves by our disobedience to our mother's advice; she, doubtless,
+intended that we should not continue in the same house long together;
+whereas from the day of her leaving us, we have never been in any other
+but this, which has occasioned us such heavy affliction. Therefore, upon
+no account, let us continue another night under this roof; but, as
+soon as the evening begins to grow dark enough to conceal us from the
+observation of any one, we will set off, and seek a lodging in some
+other place; and should any misfortune befall us on our passage, we
+shall at least have the consolation of thinking that we were doing
+our duty by following the advice of our parent.' 'It is true,' said my
+brother, 'we have been greatly to blame; for the future we will be
+more careful of our conduct; but do, my dear Nimble,' continued he,
+'endeavour to compose yourself, and take a little rest, after the pain
+and fatigue which you have gone through, otherwise you may be sick; and
+what will become of me, if any mischief should befall you? I shall then
+have no brother to converse with, no friend to advise me what to do.'
+Here he stopped, overpowered with his grief for the loss of our two
+murdered brothers, and with his tender solicitude for my welfare. I
+endeavoured all in my power to comfort him, and said I hoped that I
+should soon recover from the bruises I had received both from the boy's
+hat and book, as well as the pinches in my neck with his finger and
+thumb, by which he held me, and promised to compose myself. This promise
+I fulfilled by endeavouring to sleep; but the scene that I had so lately
+been witness to was too fresh in my imagination to suffer me to close my
+eyes: however, I kept for some time quiet.
+
+The rest of the day we spent in almost total silence, having no spirits
+for conversation, our hearts being almost broken with anguish. When
+it grew toward evening, we agreed to find our way out of that detested
+house, and seek for some other habitation, which might be more
+propitious. But we found more difficulty in this undertaking than we
+were at all aware of; for though we could with tolerable ease go from
+room to room within the house, still, when we attempted to quit it, we
+found it every way surrounded with so thick a brick wall, that it was
+impossible for us to make our way through it: we therefore ran round and
+round it several times, searching for some little crevice through which
+we might escape; but all to no purpose, not the least crack could we
+discover: and we might have continued there till this time, had we not
+at length, after the family were in bed, resolved to venture through one
+of the apartments into the hall, and so creep out under the house door.
+But the dangers we exposed ourselves to in this expedition were many
+and great; we knew that traps were set for us about the house, and where
+they might chance to be placed we could not tell. I had likewise been
+eye-witness to no less than four cats, who might, for ought we knew to
+the contrary, at that hour of darkness, be prowling in search of some of
+our unhappy species.
+
+But, in spite of every difficulty and hazard, we determined to venture
+rather than continue in opposition to our mother's commands; and, to
+reward our obedience, we escaped with trembling hearts, unobserved,
+at least unmolested, by any one. And now, for the first time since our
+birth, we found ourselves exposed to the inclemency of the weather. The
+night was very dark and tempestuous; the rain poured down in torrents;
+and the wind blew so exceedingly high, that, low upon the ground as
+we were, it was with difficulty that we could keep our legs: added to
+which, even step we took, we were in water up to our stomachs. In this
+wretched condition we knew not which way to turn ourselves, or where to
+seek for shelter. The spattering of the rain, the howling of the wind,
+together with the rattling and shaking of the trees, all contributed to
+make such a noise as rendered it impossible for us to hear whether any
+danger was approaching us or not.
+
+In this truly melancholy situation we waded on for a considerable
+time, till at length we reached a small house, and very easily gained
+admittance through a pretty large hole on one side of the door. Most
+heartily did we rejoice at finding ourselves once more under shelter
+from the cold and rain, and for some time only busied ourselves in
+drying our hair, which was as thoroughly wet as if we had been served as
+the boy threatened my brother Brighteyes, and we had really been
+drawn through a pond. After we had done this, and had a little rested
+ourselves, we began to look about in search of food, but we could find
+nothing except a few crumbs of bread and cheese in a man's coat pocket,
+and a piece of tallow-candle stuck on the top of a tinder-box. This,
+however, though not such delicate eating as we had been used to, yet
+served to satisfy our present hunger; and we had just finished the
+candle when we were greatly alarmed by the sight of a human hand (for we
+mice can see a little in the dark) feeling about the very chair on which
+we stood. We jumped down in an instant, and hid ourselves in a little
+hole behind a black trunk that stood in one corner of the room.
+
+We then heard very distinctly a man say, 'Betty, did you not put the
+candle by the bedside?' 'Yes, that I am very sure I did,' replied a
+female voice. 'I thought so,' answered the man; 'but I am sure it is not
+here now. Tom! Tom! Tom!' continued he. 'What, father?' replied a boy,
+starting up, 'what is the matter?' 'Why, do you know anything of the
+candle? I cannot find it, my dear, and I want it sadly, for I fancy it
+is time we should be up and be jogging. Dost know any thing of it, my
+lad?' 'Not I, truly, father,' said the boy, 'I only know that I saw
+mother stick it in the box-lid last night, and put it upon the chair,
+which she set by the bedside, after you had put your clothes upon the
+back of it; I know I saw her put it there, so it must be there now, I
+fancy.' 'Well, I cannot find it,' replied the father; so we must e'en
+get up in the dark, for I am sure it must be time.' The father and son
+then both dressed themselves, and the man, taking a shilling out of his
+pocket, laid it upon the chair, saying at the same time, 'There, Betty.
+I have left a shilling for you; take care it does not go after the
+candle, for where that is I cannot tell any more than the carp at the
+bottom of the squire's fish-pond.' He then unlocked the door, and went
+away, accompanied by his son.
+
+After their departure, we again came out, and took another walk round
+the room, and found our way into a little cupboard, which we had not
+before observed. Here we discovered half a loaf of bread, a piece of
+cold pudding, a lump of salt butter, some soft sugar in a basin, and a
+fine large slice of bacon. On these dainties we feasted very amply, and
+agreed that we should again hide ourselves behind the black trunk all
+day, and at night, when the family were in bed, return to take another
+meal on the plenty of nice provision which we so happily discovered.
+Accordingly, we crept back just as the woman went to fill her teakettle
+at a pump, which stood between her house and the next neighbour's. When
+she returned, she put it upon the fire she had just lit, and, taking a
+pair of bellows in her hand, sat down to blow it.
+
+While she was so employed, a young gentleman, about ten years of age,
+very genteelly dressed, entered the room, and in a familiar manner asked
+her how she did. 'I am very well, thank you, my dear,' replied she:
+'and pray, Master George, how does your mamma and papa do; and all your
+brothers and sisters?' 'They are all very well, thank you,' returned
+the boy: 'And I am come to bring you a slice of cake, which my grandpapa
+gave me yesterday.' Then throwing his arms round her neck, he went on
+saying, 'Oh! my dear, dear Betty Flood, how I do love you! I would do
+anything in the world to serve you. I shall save all my Christmas-boxes
+to give to you; and when I am a man, I will give you a great deal of
+money. I wish you were a lady, and not so poor.' 'I am much obliged to
+you, my dear,' said she, 'for your kind good-wishes; but, indeed, love,
+I am very well contented with my station: I have a good husband, and
+three good children, and that is more than many a lady can say; and
+riches, Master George, unless people are good, and those one lives with
+are kind and obliging, will never make anybody happy. What comfort, now,
+do you think a body could ever have at Squire Stately's? I declare, if
+it was put to my choice, I would rather a thousand times be as I am.
+To be sure, they are very rich; but what of that? they cannot eat gold;
+neither can gold ease their hearts when they are bursting almost with
+pride and ill-nature. They say, indeed, that Madam Stately would be kind
+enough, if they would let her rest; but what with the Squire's drinking
+and swearing, and the young gentleman's extravagance, and her daughter's
+pride and quarrelling, she is almost tired out of her life. And so,
+Master George, I say I had rather be poor Betty Flood, with honest
+Abraham for my husband, than the finest lady in the land, if I must
+live at such a rate. To be sure, nobody can deny but that money is very
+desirable, and people that are rich can do many agreeable things which
+we poor ones cannot; but yet, for all that, money does not make people
+happy. Happiness, Master George, depends greatly upon people's own
+tempers and dispositions: a person who is fretful and cross will never
+be happy, though he should be made king of all England; and a person who
+is contented and good-humoured will never be wretched, though he should
+be as poor as a beggar. So never fret yourself, love, because Betty
+Flood is poor; for though I am poor, I am honest; and whilst my husband
+and I are happy enough to be blessed with health, and the use of our
+limbs, we can work for our living; and though we have no great plenty,
+still we have sufficient to support us. So pray, dear, eat your cake
+yourself, for I would not take it from you for ever so much.' They then
+disputed for some time who should have it: at last, George scuffled away
+from her, and put it into the closet, and then, nodding his head at her,
+ran away, saying, he must go to school that moment.
+
+Betty Flood then ate her breakfast; and we heard her say something about
+the nasty mice, but what we could not make out, as she muttered softly
+to herself. She then came to the trunk behind which we lay, and taking
+out of it a roll of new linen, sat down to needlework. At twelve o'clock
+her husband and son returned; so moving her table out of the way, she
+made room for them at the fire, and, fetching the frying pan, dressed
+some rashers of the nice bacon we had before tasted in the cupboard. The
+boy, in the mean time, spread a cloth on the table, and placed the bread
+and cold pudding on it likewise: then, returning to the closet for their
+plates, he cried out, 'Lauk! father, here is a nice hunch of plum-cake;
+can you tell how it came?' 'Not I, indeed, Tom,' replied his father; 'I
+can tell no more than the carp at the bottom of the squire's fish-pond.'
+'Oh, I will tell you.' said Mrs. Flood; 'I know how it came. Do you
+know, that dear child, Master George Kendall, brought it for me; he
+called as he went to school this morning. I told him I would not have
+it; but the dear little soul popped it into the cupboard, and ran away
+without it. Bless his little heart! I do think he is the sweetest child
+that ever was born. You may laugh at me for saying so; but I am sure I
+should have thought the same if I had not nursed him myself.' 'Indeed,'
+replied her husband, 'I do not laugh at you for saying so, for I think
+so too, and so must everyone who knows him; for when young gentlemen
+behave as he does, everybody must love and admire them. There is nothing
+I would not do to help and serve that child, or any of his family; they
+always are so kind, and speak as civilly to us poor folk as if we were
+the first lords or ladies in the land. I am sure, if it were needful, I
+would go through fire and water for their sakes; and so would every man
+in the parish, I dare say. But I wonder who would do as much to help
+Squire Stately or any of his family, if it was not that I should think
+it my duty (and an honest man ought always to do that, whether he likes
+it or not); but I say, if it was not that it would be my duty to help my
+fellow-creature, I would scarcely be at the trouble of stepping over the
+threshold to serve them, they are such a set of cross, good-for-nothing
+gentry. I declare, it was but as we came home to dinner now, that we saw
+Master Sam throwing sticks and stones at Dame Frugal's ducks, for the
+sake of seeing them waddle; and then, when they got to the pond, he sent
+his dog in after them to bark and frighten them out of their wits. And
+as I came by, nothing would serve him but throwing a great dab of mud
+all over the sleeve of my coat. So I said, "Why, Master Sam, you need
+not have done that; I did nothing to offend you; and however amusing you
+may think it to insult poor people, I assure you it is very wicked, and
+what no good person in the world would be guilty of." He then set up
+a great rude laugh, and I walked on and said no more. But if all
+gentlefolk were to behave like that family, I had rather be poor as I
+am, than have all their riches, if that would make me act like them.'
+'Very true, Abraham,' replied his wife, 'that is what I say, and what I
+told Master George this morning; for to be poor, if people do not become
+so through their own extravagance, is no disgrace to any body: but to be
+haughty, cruel, cross, and mischievous, is a disgrace to all who are so,
+let their rank be as exalted as it may.'
+
+Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of a man, who
+begged Mr. Flood to assist him in unloading his cart of flour, as his
+man was gone out, and he could not do it by himself. 'Well, I will come
+and help you, with all my heart,' said Flood; 'and so shall Tom too:
+will you, my lad? I cannot live without help myself; and if I do not
+assist others, I am sure I shall not deserve any when I want it.' So
+saying, he left his house; and his wife, after cleaning and putting in
+their proper places those things which had been used at dinner, again
+sat down to her sewing.
+
+Soon after the clock had struck six, the man and his son returned; and,
+sitting round the fire, they passed the evening in social conversation,
+till they went to bed, which was a little after eight; and they
+convinced me, by their talk and behaviour, that happiness in this world
+depends far more upon the temper and disposition of the heart, than upon
+any external possessions; and that virtue, and a desire to be useful
+to others, afford far greater satisfaction and peace of mind than
+any riches and grandeur can possibly supply without such necessary
+qualifications. After they were all fallen asleep, we crept out; and,
+leaving the candle unmolested, which was again placed on the tinder-box
+by the bed-side, we hastened into the closet, where we regaled heartily,
+and devoured that part of the plum-cake which Tom had very generously
+left for his sister Polly, who we found was expected home the next day.
+
+We then retired to our safe retreat, and thought we might venture to
+stay for one more night's provisions without running any danger from our
+too frequent return to the same place. But in the morning we found our
+scheme frustrated; for, on the woman's going to the closet to get
+her breakfast, she observed the robbery which we had committed, and
+exclaimed, 'Some teasing mice have found their way into the closet: I
+will borrow neighbour Savewell's trap to-night, and catch some of the
+little toads; that I will!' After hearing this, it would have been
+madness to make any further attempts: we therefore agreed to watch for
+an opportunity, and escape on the very first that offered. Accordingly,
+about noon, when Mrs. Flood was busily employed in making some pancakes,
+we slipped by her unobserved, and crept out at the same hole by which we
+first entered. But no sooner were we in the open road, than we repented
+our haste, and wished that we had continued where we were till
+the darkness of the night might better have concealed us from the
+observation of anyone. We crept as close to the wall of the house (as
+far as it reached, which was but a few paces) as we possibly could, and
+then stepped into a little ditch, which we were soon obliged to leave
+again, as the water ran in some parts of it almost up to the edge.
+
+At length we reached a little cottage, which we were just entering, when
+a cat that was sleeping unnoticed by us upon a chair, jumped down, and
+would certainly have destroyed me (who happened to go first) had she not
+at the same moment tried to catch my brother, and by that means missed
+her aim, and so given us both an opportunity to escape, which we did by
+scrambling behind a brick that a child had been playing with by the side
+of the door. Fortunately, the brick lay too close to the house for the
+cat to get her paw behind it, so as to be able to reach us; though to
+avoid it we were obliged to use the greatest precaution, as she could
+thrust it in a little way, so that if we had gone one inch too near
+either end, she would certainly have dragged us out by her talons. In
+this dreadful situation did we spend some hours, incessantly moving
+from one end of the brick to the other; for the moment she had, by the
+entrance of her paw at one end, driven us to the other, she stepped
+over, and again made us retreat. Think with what dreadful terror our
+little hearts must have been oppressed, to see our mortal enemy so
+closely watching us, expecting every moment when she shook the brick
+with her two forepaws in searching, and with her mouth endeavoured to
+lift it up, that she would be so far able to effect her purpose, as to
+make it impossible for us to escape her jaws. But, happily for us, it
+had somehow or other got so wedged that she could not move it to any
+distance; though it kept momentarily increasing our terrors, by shaking
+as she strove to turn it.
+
+From this state of horror, however, we were at length delivered by a
+little boy of about two years old, who came out of the house, and taking
+the cat up round its body with both hands, tottered away with it, and
+shut the door.
+
+Finding ourselves thus unexpectedly once more at liberty, we determined
+to make use of it, by seeking some safer retreat, at least, till night
+should better hide us from public view. Terrified almost out of our
+senses, we crept from behind the brick, and, after running a few yards,
+slipped under the folding doors of a barn, and soon concealed ourselves
+amidst a vast quantity of threshed corn. This appeared to us the most
+desirable retreat that we had yet found; not only as it afforded such
+immense plenty of food, but also as we could so easily hide ourselves
+from the observation of any one: beside, as it did not appear to be a
+dwelling-house, we could in security reside, free from any danger of
+traps, or the cruelty of man. We therefore congratulated each other, not
+more on account of the wonderful escape which we had, than upon our good
+fortune in coming to a Spot so blessed with peace and plenty.
+
+After we were a little recovered from the fatigue of mind, as well as
+of body, which we had lately gone through, we regaled very heartily upon
+the corn that surrounded us, and then fell into a charming sleep, from
+which we were awakened the next morning by the sound of human voices.
+We very distinctly heard that of a boy, saying, 'Let us mix all the
+threshed corn with the rest that is not threshed, and that will make
+a fine fuss, and set John and Simon a swearing like troopers when they
+come and find all their labour lost, and that they must do all their
+work over again.' 'And do you think there is anything so agreeable in
+giving people trouble, and hearing them swear,' replied another voice,
+'that you can wish to do it? For my part. I think it is so wicked a
+thing, that I hate to hear anybody guilty of it, much less would I be
+the cause of making them commit so great a sin; and as for giving them
+all their trouble over again, so far would it be from affording me any
+pleasure, that on the contrary it would give me great pain; for however
+you may think of it, Will, I assure you, it always gives me much
+uneasiness to see people labouring and working hard. I always think how
+much I should dislike to be obliged to do so myself, and therefore
+very sincerely pity those who must. On no account therefore will I do
+anything to add to their labour, or that shall give them unnecessary
+work.'
+
+'Pooh!' answered Will, 'you are wonderfully wise; I, for my part, hate
+such super-abundant wisdom; I like to see folk fret, and stew, and
+scold, as our maids did last week when I cut the line, and let all the
+sheets, and gowns, and petticoats, and frocks, and shirts, and aprons,
+and caps, and what not, fall plump into the dirt. O! how I did laugh!
+and how they did mutter and scold! And do you know, that just as the
+wash ladies were wiping their coddled hands, and comforted themselves
+with the thought of their work being all over, and were going to sip
+their tea by the fireside, I put them all to the scout; and they were
+obliged to wash every rag over again. I shall never forget how cross
+they looked, nay, I verily believe Susan cried about it; and how I did
+laugh!'
+
+'And pray,' rejoined the other boy, 'should you have laughed equally
+hearty if, after you had been at school all day, and had with much
+difficulty just got through all your writing, and different exercises,
+and were going to play, should you laugh, I say, if somebody was to
+run away with them all, and your master oblige you to do them all over
+again? Tell me, Will, should you laugh, or cry and look cross? And even
+that would not be half so bad for you, as it was for the maids to be
+obliged to wash their clothes over again; washing is very hard labour,
+and tires people sadly, and so does threshing too. It is very unkind,
+therefore, to give them such unnecessary trouble; and everything that
+is unkind, is wicked; and I would not do it upon any account, I assure
+you.' 'Then I assure you,' replied Will, 'you may let it alone; I can
+do it without your assistance.' He then began mixing the grain and the
+chaff together, the other boy strongly remonstrating against it, to
+which he paid no attention; and whilst he was so employed, two men,
+Simon and John, entered the barn.
+
+'Why, how now, Master Billy,' said Simon; 'what are you about? What
+business have you to be here? You are always doing some mischief or
+other! I wish, with all my heart, that you were kept chained like a dog,
+and never suffered to be at liberty, for you do more harm in an hour,
+than a body can set right again in a month!' Will then took up hats full
+of the corn and chaff, and threw it in the two men's faces; afterwards
+taking up a flail, he gave Simon a blow across his back, saying, at the
+same time, 'I will show you the way to thresh, and separate the flesh
+from the bones.' 'O! will you so, young squire?' said John; 'I will
+show you the way to make naughty boys good.' He then left the barn, but
+presently returned accompanied by a gentleman, upon the sight of whom
+Will let fall the flail, which he was till then brandishing over Simon's
+head, and was going away, when the gentleman taking hold of his hand,
+said, 'You do not stir from this place, Master William, nor have one
+mouthful of breakfast, till you have asked the men pardon for your
+behaviour, and likewise sifted every grain of corn from the chaff which
+you have mixed with it. When you have done that, you may have some
+food, but not before; and afterward you may spend the rest of the day in
+threshing, then you will be a better judge, my boy, of the fatigue and
+labour of it, and find how you should like, after working hard all day,
+to have it rendered useless by a mischievous boy. Remember, William,
+what I have now said to you, for I do insist upon being minded; and I
+promise you, that if you offer to play, or do anything else today, you
+shall be punished very severely.' The gentleman then went away. Will
+muttered something, I could not exactly hear what, began to sift the
+corn, and so much had he mixed together, that he did not go in for his
+breakfast till after I had heard the church clock strike one, though
+it was before eight when he came into the barn. In about an hour he
+returned, and the other boy with him, who addressed him, saying, 'Ah!
+Will, you had better have taken my advice, and not have done so: I
+thought what you would get by your nice fun as you called it. I never
+knew any good come of mischief; it generally brings those who do it into
+disgrace; or if they should happen to escape unpunished, still it
+is always attended with some inconvenience: it is an ill-natured
+disposition which can take pleasure in giving trouble to any one.' 'Do
+hold your tongue, James,' replied Will; 'I declare I have not patience
+to hear you preach, you are so prodigiously wise, and prudent, and
+sober; you had better go indoors and sew with your mamma, for you talk
+just as if you were a girl, and not in the least like a boy of spirit.'
+'Like a girl!' resumed James. 'Are girls then the only folk who have any
+sense, or good nature? Or what proof does it shew of spirit to be fond
+of mischief, and giving people trouble? It is like a monkey of spirit
+indeed; but I cannot say, that I see either spirit or sense in making
+the clean clothes fall into the dirt, or mixing the corn and chaff, for
+the sake of making the poor servants do them all over again: if these
+things are a sign of any spirit. I am sure it is of an evil one, and not
+at all such as I wish to possess, though I no more want to sit still,
+or work with a needle, than you do; but I hope there are other ways of
+showing my spirit, as you call it, than by doing mischief, and being
+ill-natured. I do not think my papa ever seems to be effeminate, or want
+sufficient spirit; but he would scorn to give unnecessary trouble to
+anybody: and so will Tom Vaulter, though no boy in the world loves play
+better than he does; he plays at cricket the best of any boy in the
+school, and I am sure none can beat him at tennis; and as for skipping,
+I never saw a boy skip so well in all my life; and I am sure he would
+beat you, with all your spirit, out and out twenty times, either at
+running, or sliding, or swimming, or climbing a tree. And yet he
+never gives trouble to anybody for the sake of fun; he is one of the
+best-tempered boys in the world; and whether it is like a girl or not,
+he always does what he knows to be right and kind; and if that is being
+like girls, why, with all my heart; I like girls well enough, and if
+they behave well I do not see why you should speak so contemptuously of
+them. My papa always says that he loves girls just as well as boys, and
+none but foolish and naughty boys despise and tease them.' Just as he
+said these words, Simon and John entered the barn, and seeing Will stand
+idle, 'Come, come, young gentleman,' said John, 'take up your flail and
+go to work, sir, to work! to work! night will be here presently, and
+you have done nothing yet.' Presently after the gentleman returned, and
+enforced John's advice for him to mind his work.
+
+After Master Will had continued his employment some little time, he
+began to cry, saying, his arms ached ready to drop off, and his hand was
+so sore he could not bear it. 'Then doubtless,' replied his father, 'you
+would prodigiously like, after you have been labouring all day, to have
+your work to do over again, for the sake of diverting a foolish boy. But
+go on, William, I am determined that you shall, for one day, know what
+it is to work hard, and thereby be taught to pity, and help, not add to
+the fatigue of those who do.' The boy then went on with his business,
+though not without making great complaints, and shedding many tears. At
+length, however, evening came; and the gentleman, his son, and the two
+men, all went away, leaving Longtail and myself to enjoy our abundance.
+We passed another night in the sweetest undisturbed repose, and in the
+day had nothing to alarm our fears. In short, our situation was every
+way so perfectly happy and desirable, that we thought, although our
+mother had charged us not to return frequently to the same place, yet
+she could not mean that we should not take up our abode in a spot so
+secure and comfortable. We therefore determined to continue where we
+were, till we should find some cause for removing. And happy had it been
+for us if we had kept to this resolution, and remained contented when we
+had everything requisite to make us so. Instead of which, after we had
+thus, free from care, passed our time about seven months, like fools as
+we were, we began to grow weary of our retirement, and of eating nothing
+but the same food; and agreed that we would again venture forth and seek
+for some other lodging, at the same time resolving, in case we could
+find no habitation that suited us, to return to the barn where we had
+enjoyed so many days of plenty and repose.
+
+Accordingly, one fine moonlight Monday night, after securing our supper
+on the corn, we set forth, and travelled for some distance without any
+further molestation than our own natural fears created. At length we
+came to a brick house, with about five or six windows in front, and made
+our way into it through a small latticed window which gave air into
+the pantry; but on our arrival here we had no opportunity of so much as
+observing what it contained, for on our slipping down a cat instantly
+flew at us, and by the greatest good luck in the world, there chanced to
+be a hole in one of the boards of the floor close to the spot where we
+stood, into which we both were happy enough to pop, before she could
+catch us. Here we had time to reflect, and severely blame ourselves
+for not being satisfied with our state in the barn. 'When,' said I,
+addressing myself to my brother, 'when shall we grow wise, and learn
+to know that certain evil always attends every deviation from what is
+right. When we disobeyed the advice of our mother, and, tempted by cakes
+and other dainties, frequently returned to the same dangerous place, how
+severely did we suffer for it? And now, by our own discontent, and not
+being satisfied when so safely though more humbly lodged, into what
+trouble have we not plunged ourselves? How securely have we lived in
+the barn for the last seven months, and how happily might we still have
+continued there, had it not been for our restless dispositions? Ah! my
+brother, we have acted foolishly. We ought to have been contented
+when we were at peace, and should have considered that if we had not
+everything we could wish for, we had every thing that was necessary;
+and the life of a mouse was never designed for perfect happiness. Such
+enjoyment was never intended for our lot; it is the portion only of
+beings whose capacities are far superior to ours. We ought then to have
+been contented; and had we been so, we should have been as happy as our
+state of life would have admitted of.' 'What you say is certainly very
+true,' replied Longtail, 'and I sincerely wish that we had thought of
+these things before. But what must we now do? we said we would return to
+the barn in case of difficulties, but that is now impossible, as, if
+we attempt to retreat, the cat that drove us in here, will certainly
+destroy us; and yet in proceeding, what difficulties must we encounter,
+what dangers may we not run! Oh! my beloved Nimble,' continued he, 'what
+a life of hazard is ours! to what innumerable accidents are we hourly
+exposed! and how is every meal that we eat at the risk of our very
+existence!'
+
+'It undoubtedly is,' replied I; 'but with all its troubles we still are
+very desirous of preserving it: let us not then, my brother, indulge
+our hearts with murmuring and finding fault with that life, which,
+notwithstanding all its evils, we value so highly. Rather let us
+endeavour to learn experience, and, by conducting ourselves better,
+escape many of those troubles which we now suffer.' So saving, I advised
+him to follow me: 'for,' added I, 'it is impossible for us to exist in
+the spot in which we are at present; we must therefore strive to work
+our way into some other house or apartment, where we can at least find
+some food.' To this Longtail agreed; the rest of the night, and all the
+next day, we spent in nibbling and finding our way into a closet in
+the house, which richly repaid us for all our toil, as it contained
+sugar-plums, rice, millet, various kinds of sweetmeats, and what we
+liked better than all the rest, a paper of nice macaroons. On these we
+feasted most deliciously till our hunger was fully satisfied, and then
+creeping into a little hole, just big enough to contain us both, behind
+one of the jars of sweetmeats, reposed ourselves with a nap, after our
+various and great fatigues which we had gone through. I never was
+a remarkably sound sleeper, the least noise disturbs me, and I was
+awakened in the morning by the servant-maid's coming into the room to
+sweep it, and get it ready for the reception of her mistress and family,
+who soon after entered. As I wanted to know from whom the voices I heard
+proceeded, I stepped softly from behind the jar and just peeped under
+the door into the room, where I discovered a gentleman, two ladies, and
+a little boy and girl.
+
+As I was totally unacquainted with all places of retreat, and did not
+know how soon any of them might have occasion to open the closet door, I
+instantly returned to my brother; and, awaking him, told him it was time
+for us to be upon our guard, as the family were all up and about.
+
+Whilst we were thus situated, the first words I heard distinctly were
+those of the gentleman, saying, 'No, Frank, I can never have a good
+opinion of him; the boy who could once deceive may, for aught I know,
+do so again; he has, by breaking his word, forfeited the only dependence
+one could possibly have in him. A person who has once lost his honour
+has no means left of gaining credit to his assertions. By honour, Frank,
+I would be understood to speak of veracity, of virtue, of scorning
+to commit a mean action, and not that brutish sense in which some
+understand it, as if it consisted in a readiness to fight and resent an
+injury; for so far am I from considering such behaviour as any proof of
+honour, that, on the contrary, I look upon it as a sure sign of want of
+proper spirit and true honour. Fools, bullies, and even cowards, will
+fight; whereas none but men of sense and resolution and true magnanimity
+know how to pardon and despise an insult.' 'But, indeed, sir,' replied
+the boy, 'at school, if one did not fight, they would laugh at one so,
+there would be no such thing as bearing it.' 'And for that very reason
+it is, my dear, that I say, to pass by and pardon an insult requires
+more resolution and courage than mere fighting does. When I wish you
+to avoid quarrelling and fighting, I by no means want you to become a
+coward, for I as much abhor a dastardly spirit as any boy in your school
+can possibly do; but I would wish you to convince them that you merited
+not that appellation, by showing through the whole of your behaviour,
+a resolution that despised accidental pain, and avoided revenging an
+affront for no other reason than because you were convinced it shewed a
+much nobler spirit to pardon than to resent. And you may be assured, my
+dear, few are the days that pass without affording us some opportunity
+of exerting our patience, and showing that, although we disdain
+quarrelling, still we are far from being cowards.
+
+'I remember, when I was at school, there was one boy, who, from his
+first coming, declined upon all occasions engaging in any battle;
+he even gave up many of his just rights to avoid quarrelling, which
+conduct, instead of gaining (as it justly deserved) the approbation of
+his companions, drew upon him the insult and abuse of the whole school;
+and they were perpetually teasing him with the opprobrious title of
+coward. For some time he bore it with great good-humour, and endeavoured
+to laugh it off; but, finding that had no effect, he one day thus
+addressed us:--"If you suppose that I like to be called a coward, you
+are all very much mistaken; or if you think me one, I assure you that
+you are not less so; for no boy in the school should, if put to the
+trial, show greater resolution than myself. Indeed, I think it no small
+proof of patience that I have borne your repeated insults so long;
+when I could, by behaving more like a savage beast, and less like a
+reasonable creature, have established my character at once; but I abhor
+quarrelling, my soul detests to treat my fellow-creatures as if they
+were brutes, from whose fangs I must defend myself; but if nothing else
+but fighting will convince you that I possess not less courage than
+yourselves, I will now offer, in cold blood, to engage with the biggest
+boy in the school. If I conquer him, it will be a sign that I know how
+to defend myself; and if he conquers me, I will, by my behaviour, give
+a proof that I am not wanting in resolution to suffer pain, although I
+never will so far demean the character of a reasonable creature and a
+Christian, as to fight upon every trifling disagreement or insult."
+No sooner had he uttered these words, than every boy present was
+loud either in his commendation or condemnation. One quarter of
+them, convinced of the justness of his arguments, highly extolled his
+forbearance; whilst the other three parts, with still greater noise,
+only called him a bully and a mean-spirited coward, who dared not fight,
+and for that reason made such a fine speech, hoping to intimidate them.
+"Well then," said he, "if such is your opinion, why will none of you
+accept my offer? you surely cannot be afraid, you who are such brave
+fellows, of such true courage, and such noble spirits, cannot be afraid
+of a coward and a bully! Why, therefore, does not one of you step
+forward, and put my fine speech to the test? Otherwise, after I have
+thus challenged you all, I hope none for the future will think they have
+any right to call me coward; though I again declare my fixed resolution
+against fighting."
+
+'Just as he said this, a voice calling for help, was heard from a lane
+adjoining to the play-yard. Immediately we all flocked to the
+side nearest whence it proceeded; and, clambering upon benches,
+watering-pots, or whatever came first in our way, peeped over the wall,
+where we discovered two well-grown lads, about seventeen or eighteen,
+stripping a little boy of his clothes, and beating him for his outcries
+in a most cruel manner; and at a little distance farther down the lane,
+sat a company of gypsies, to whom the two lads evidently belonged. At
+the sight of this we were all much distressed, and wished to relieve the
+boy; though, discovering so large a party, we were too much afraid to
+venture, till Tomkins (the boy I before spoke about) instantly jumped
+from the wall, and only saying, "Has nobody courage to follow me?" ran
+toward them as fast as possible, and with uncommon strength and agility
+placed himself between them and the boy, and began defending himself
+in the best manner he could; which he did for some time with great
+dexterity, none of his fighting schoolfellows having courage to go to
+his assistance. At length, however, seeing it impossible for him to
+stand out any longer against two so much stronger than himself, the
+boys agreed to secure themselves by numbers, and to sally forth to his
+assistance altogether. This scheme succeeded, and very shortly rescued
+Tomkins from his antagonists. He thanked them for their assistance,
+saying, at the same time, "I hope you will no longer doubt my courage,
+or my abilities to fight, when it is necessary or in a good cause."
+After so signal a proof of his viler, his greatest enemies could no
+longer doubt it; and, without ever engaging in foolish battles, he
+passed through school as much respected as any boy, and his magnanimity
+was never again called in question.'
+
+As the gentleman stopped speaking, the little girl called out, 'O, papa,
+the coach is at the door.' 'Is it, my dear?' returned the father. 'Well
+then, stop, my love,' said one of the ladies, 'I have got a few cakes
+for you: stay, and take them before you go.' She then unlocked the
+closet where we were, and took down the paper of macaroons, among which
+we had so comfortably regaled ourselves; when, observing the hole in the
+paper through which we entered, 'O dear!' she exclaimed, 'the mice have
+actually got into my cupboard. I will move all the things out this very
+morning, and lock the cat up in it; for I shall be undone if the mice
+once get footing here; they will soon spoil all my stores, and that
+will never do.' She then kissed both the children; and, giving them
+the cakes, they, the gentleman, and another lady, all departed; and she
+instantly began to move the boxes and jars from the closet; whilst we,
+terrified almost out of our wits, sat trembling behind one of them, not
+daring to stir, yet dreading the cat's approach every moment.
+
+We were soon, however, obliged to move our quarters, for the lady taking
+down the very jar which concealed us, we were forced (without knowing
+where we were) to jump down instantly. In vain we sought all round the
+room for some avenue whereat we might escape; the apartment was too well
+fitted up to admit the smallest crack; and we must then certainly have
+been destroyed, had we not, with uncommon presence of mind, ran up the
+back of the lady's gown, by which means she lost sight of us, and gave
+us an opportunity to make our escape, as she opened the door to order
+the cat to be brought in. We seized the lucky moment, and, dropping
+from her gown, fled with the utmost haste out at the house door, which
+happened to be wide open; and I, without once looking behind me, ran on
+till I discovered a little crack in the brick wall, which I entered, and
+which, after many turnings and windings, brought me to this house, where
+I have now continued skulking about in its different apartments for
+above a month; during which time I have not heard the least tidings of
+my beloved brother Longtail. Whether, therefore, any mischief befell him
+as he followed me, or whether he entered the crack with me and then lost
+sight of me, I know not; but in vain have I sought him every day since
+my arrival within these walls, and so anxious am I to learn what is
+become of him, that I am now come forth, contrary to my nature, to
+engage your compassion, and to beseech you, in case--
+
+
+
+At this moment, the door of my room opened, and my servant coming
+hastily in, the mouse jumped from my table, and precipitately retreated
+to the same hole from whence it first addressed me; and though I have
+several times peeped into it, and even laid little bits of cake to
+entice it back again, yet have I never been able to see it any where
+since. Should either that, or any other, ever again favour me so far
+with their confidence, as to instruct me with their history, I will
+certainly communicate it with all possible speed to my little readers;
+who I hope have been wise enough to attend to the advice given them
+in the preceding pages, although it was delivered to them by one as
+insignificant as a MOUSE.
+
+
+
+
+PART II.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+It is now some months ago since I took leave of my little readers,
+promising, in case I should ever hear any further tidings of either
+Nimble or Longtail, I would certainly communicate it to them; and, as I
+think it extremely wrong not to fulfil any engagement we enter into,
+I look upon myself bound to give them all the information I have since
+gained, relating to those two little animals; and I doubt not but they
+will be glad to hear what happened to them, after Nimble was frightened
+from my writing table by the entrance of my servant. If I recollect
+right, I have already told you, that I frequently peeped into the hole
+in the skirting-board, and laid bits of cake to try to entice my little
+companion back, but all to no purpose: and I had quite given over all
+hopes of ever again seeing him, when one day, as I was putting my hand
+into a large jar, which had some Turkey figs in it, I felt something
+soft at the bottom, and taking it out, found it to be a poor little
+mouse, not quite dead, but so starved and weak, that upon my placing it
+upon the table, it had not strength sufficient to get from me. A little
+boy happened to be standing by me, who, upon the sight of the mouse,
+began to beg me to give it to the cat, or kill it, 'for I don't like
+mice,' said he; 'pray, ma'am, put it away.' 'Not like mice,' replied I;
+'what can be your objection to such a little soft creature as this?'
+and taking advantage of its weakness, I picked it up, and held it in
+the palm of one hand, whilst I stroked it with the fingers of my right.
+'Poor little mouse,' said I, 'who can be afraid of such a little object
+as this? Do you not feel ashamed of yourself, Joe, to fear such a little
+creature as this? Only look at it, observe how small it is, and then
+consider your own size, and surely, my dear, you will blush to think of
+being no more of a man than to fear a mouse! Look at me, Joe,' continued
+I, 'see, I will kiss it, I am not at all afraid that it will hurt me.'
+When, lifting it up toward my face, I heard it say, in the faintest
+voice possible, 'Do you not know me?' I instantly recollected my little
+friend Nimble, and rejoiced at so unexpectedly finding him. 'What, is it
+you, little Nimble,' exclaimed I, 'that I again behold? Believe me, I
+am heartily rejoiced once more to find you; but tell me, where have you
+been, what have you done, whom have you seen, and what have you learned
+since you last left me?' 'Oh!' replied he, in a voice so low I could
+scarcely hear him, 'I have seen many things; but I am so faint and weak
+for want of food and fresh air, that I doubt I shall never live to tell
+you; but, for pity's sake have compassion on me, either put me out of
+my present misery by instantly killing me, or else give me something
+to eat; for, if you knew my sufferings, I am sure it would grieve your
+heart.' 'Kill you!' returned I, 'no, that I will not: on the contrary, I
+will try by every method to restore you to health, and all the happiness
+a mouse is capable of feeling.' I then instantly sent for some bread,
+and had the satisfaction of seeing him eat very heartily of it, after
+which he seemed much refreshed, and began to move about a little more
+suitable to his name; for, in truth, when I first found him, no living
+creature in the world could appear less deserving of the appellation of
+Nimble. I then fetched him a little milk, and gave him a lump of sugar
+to nibble; after eating of which he begged to retire into some safe
+little hole to take a nap, from whence he promised to return as soon as
+he should wake; and accordingly, in about an hour he again appeared on
+my table, and began as follows.
+
+
+
+I was frightened away from you just as I was going to implore your
+compassion for any unfortunate mouse that might happen to fall within
+your power; lest you should destroy my dear and only surviving brother,
+Longtail; but somebody entering the room, prevented me, and after I had
+regained my hiding place, I resolved to quit the house, and once
+more set out in search of my beloved brother. Accordingly, with great
+difficulty I made my way out of the house; but my distress was much
+increased upon finding the snow so deep upon the ground, that it was
+impossible for me to attempt to stir, as upon stepping one foot out to
+try, I found it far too deep for me to fathom the bottom. This greatly
+distressed me. 'Alas!' said I to myself, 'what shall I do now? To
+proceed is impossible; and to return is very melancholy, without any
+tidings of my dear, dear Longtail.' But I was interrupted in the midst
+of these reflections, by the appearance of two cats, who came running
+with such violence as to pass by without observing me: however, it
+put me in such consternation, that regardless where I went, I sprung
+forward, and sunk so deep in the snow that I must inevitably soon have
+perished, had not a boy come to the very place where I was, to gather
+snow for making snowballs to throw at his companions. Happily for me, he
+took me up in his hand, in the midst of the snow, which not less alarmed
+me, when I considered the sufferings I had before endured, and the cruel
+death of my brother Brighteyes, from the hands of boys. Oh! thought I to
+myself, what new tortures shall I now experience? Better had I perished
+in the cold snow, than be spared only to be tormented by the cruel hands
+of unthinking children.
+
+Scarcely had I made this reflection, when the boy called out, upon
+seeing me move, 'Lud! what have I got here?' at the same instant tossing
+the handful of snow from him in a violent hurry, without attempting
+to press it into a ball. Over I turned head and heels, wondering what
+further would be my fate, when I was happy to find I fell unhurt upon
+some hay, which was laid in the yard to fodder the cows and horses. Here
+I lay some time, so frightened by my adventure, as to be unable to move,
+and my little heart beat as if it would have burst its way through my
+breast; nor were my apprehensions at all diminished by the approach of a
+man, who gathered the hay up in his arms, and carried it (with me in the
+midst of it) into the stable; where, after littering down the horses, he
+left me once more to my own reflections.
+
+After he had been gone some time, and all things were quiet, I began
+to look about me, and soon found my way into a corn bin, where I made
+a most delicious supper, and slept free from any disturbance till the
+morning, when fearing I might be discovered, in case he should want any
+of the oats for his horses, I returned by the same place I had entered,
+and hid myself in one corner of the hayloft, where I passed the whole
+of the day more free from alarm than often falls to the lot of any of my
+species, and in the evening again returned to regale myself with corn,
+as I had done the night before. The great abundance with which I was
+surrounded, strongly tempted me to continue where I was; but then the
+thoughts of my absent brother embittered all my peace, and the advice of
+my mother came so much across my mind, that I determined before the next
+morning I would again venture forth and seek my fortune and my brother.
+Accordingly, after having eaten a very hearty meal, I left the bin, and
+was attempting to get out of the stable, when one of the horses being
+taken suddenly ill, made so much noise with his kicking and struggling,
+as to alarm the family, and the coachman entering with a lantern in his
+hand, put me into such consternation, that I ran for shelter into the
+pocket of a great coat, which hung up upon a peg next the harness of the
+horses. Here I lay snug for some hours, not daring to stir, as I smelt
+the footsteps of a cat frequently pass by, and heard the coachman extol
+her good qualities to a man who accompanied him into the stable; saying
+she was the best mouser in the kingdom. 'I do not believe,' added he, 'I
+have a mouse in the stable or loft, she keeps so good a lookout. For the
+last two days I lent her to the cook, to put into her pantry, but I have
+got her back again, and I would not part with her for a crown; no, not
+for the best silver crown that ever was coined in the Tower.' Then,
+through a little moth hole in the lining of the coat, I saw him lift her
+up, stroke her, and put her upon the back of one of the horses, where
+she stretched herself out, and went to sleep.
+
+In this situation I did not dare to stir, I had too often seen how eager
+cats are to watch mice, to venture out of the pocket, whilst she was so
+near me, especially as I did not at all know the holes or cracks round
+the stable, and should, therefore, had she jumped down, been quite at a
+loss where to run. So I determined to continue where I was till either
+hunger forced me, or the absence of the cat gave a better opportunity
+of escaping. But scarce had I taken up this resolution when the coachman
+again entered, and suddenly taking the coat from the peg, put it on, and
+marched out with me in his pocket.
+
+It is utterly impossible to describe my fear and consternation at this
+event, to jump out whilst in the stable exposed me to the jaws of the
+cat, and to attempt it when out of doors was but again subjecting myself
+to be frozen to death, for the snow continued still on the ground; yet
+to stay in his pocket was running the chance of suffering a still more
+dreadful death by the barbarous hands of man; and nothing did I expect,
+in case he should find me, but either to be tortured like Softdown, or
+given to be the sport of his favorite cat--a fate almost as much dreaded
+as the other. However it was soon put out of my power to determine, for
+whilst I was debating in my own mind what course I had better take, he
+mounted the coachbox, and drove away with me in his pocket, till he came
+to a large house, about a mile distant from this place; there he put
+down the company he had in the coach, and then drove into the yard. But
+he had not been there many moments before the coachman of the family he
+was come to, invited him into the kitchen to warm himself, drink a mug
+of ale, and eat a mouthful of cold meat. As soon as he entered, and
+had paid the proper compliments to the Mrs. Betties and Mollies at the
+place, he pulled off his great coat, and hung it across the back of his
+chair. I instantly seized the first opportunity and whilst they were all
+busy assembling round the luncheon table, made my escape, and ran under
+a cupboard door close to the chimney, where I had an opportunity of
+seeing and hearing all that passed, part of which conversation I will
+relate to you.
+
+'Well, Mr. John,' said a footman, addressing himself to the man whose
+pocket I had just left, 'how fare you? Are you pretty hearty? You look
+well, I am sure.' 'Aye, and so I am, replied he. 'I never was better in
+all my life; I live comfortably, have a good master and mistress, eat
+and drink bravely, and what can a man wish for more? For my part I am
+quite contented, and if I do but continue to enjoy my health, I am sure
+I shall be very ungrateful not to be so.' 'That's true,' said the other,
+'but the misfortune of it is, people never know when they are well off,
+but are apt to fret and wish and wish and fret, for something or other
+all their lives, and so never have any enjoyment. Now for my own part,
+I must needs confess, that I cannot help wishing I was a gentleman, and
+think I should be a deal happier if I was.' 'Pshaw!' replied John, 'I
+don't like now to hear a man say so; it looks as if you are discontented
+with the state in which you are placed, and depend upon it, you are in
+the one that is fittest for you, or you would not have been put into it.
+And as for being happier if you were a gentleman, I don't know what
+to say to it. To be sure, to have a little more money in one's pocket,
+nobody can deny that it would be very agreeable; and to be at liberty
+to come in and go out when one pleased, to be sure would be very
+comfortable. But still, Bob, still you may assure yourself, that no
+state in this world is free from care, and if we were turned into lords,
+we should find many causes for uneasiness. So here's your good health,'
+said he, lifting the mug to his mouth, 'wishing, my lad, you may
+be contented, cheerful, and good humoured; for without these three
+requisites, content, cheerfulness, and good humour, no one person upon
+earth, rich or poor, old or young, can ever feel comfortable or happy;
+and so here's to you, I say.' 'And here's the same good wishes to you,'
+said a clean decent cook-woman servant, who took up the mug upon John's
+putting it down. 'Content, cheerfulness, and good humour, I think was
+the toast.' Then wiping her mouth, as she began her speech, she added,
+'and an excellent one it is: I wish all folks would mind it, and
+endeavour to acquire three such good qualifications.' 'I am sure,'
+rejoined another female servant, whose name I heard was Sally, 'I wish
+so too: at least I wish Miss Mary would try to gain a little more of the
+good humour; for I never came near such a cross crab in my life as it
+is. I declare I hate the sight of the girl, she is such a proud little
+minx she would not vouchsafe to speak to a poor servant for the world;
+as if she thought because we are poorer, we were therefore not of the
+same nature: her sisters, I think are worth ten of her, they always
+reply so civilly if a body speaks to them, and say, "Yes, if you please,
+Mrs. Sally, or No, thank you, Mr. Bob;" or "I should be obliged to you
+if you would do so and so, Mrs. Nelly," and not plain yes or no, as she
+does; and well too if you can get even that from her; for sometimes I
+declare she will not deign to give one any answer at all.' 'Aye, that is
+a sure thing she won't,' replied the maid servant who first drank, 'it
+is a sad thing she should behave so; I can't think, for my part, where
+she learns it; I am sure neither her papa nor mamma set her the example
+of it, for they always speak as pretty and as kind as it is possible
+to do; and I have heard, with my own ears, my mistress tell her of it
+twenty and twenty times, but she will do so. I am sure it is a sad thing
+that she should, for she will always make people dislike her. I am sure,
+if young gentlemen and ladies did not know how it makes people love them
+to speak civilly and kind, they would take great care not to behave like
+Miss Mary. Do you know, the other day, when Mrs. Lime's maid brought
+little Miss Peggy to see my mistress, when she went away, she made a
+courtesy to Miss Mary, and said, "Good morning to you, Miss." And would
+you think it, the child stood like a stake, and never returned it so
+much as by a nod of the head, nor did she open her lips. I saw by her
+looks the maid took notice of it, and I am sure I have such a regard for
+the family, that I felt quite ashamed of her behaviour.' 'Oh! she served
+me worse than that,' resumed Sally, 'for, would you believe it, the
+other day I begged her to be so kind as to let her mamma know I wanted
+to speak with her; and I did not choose to go into the room myself,
+because I was dirty, and there was company there; but for all I desired
+her over and over only just to step in (and she was at play close to the
+door) yet, could you suppose it possible, she was ill-natured enough to
+refuse me, and would not do it at last.' 'Well, if ever I heard the like
+of that!' exclaimed John, whose pocket I had been in. 'I think that was
+being cross indeed, and if a child of mine was to behave in that surly
+manner, I would whip it to death almost. I abominate such unkind doings,
+let everyone, I say, do as they like to be done by, and that is the only
+way to be happy, and the only way to deserve to be so; for if folks will
+not try to be kind, and oblige others, why should anybody try to please
+them? And if Miss Mary was my girl, and chose to behave rude and cross
+to the servants, if I was her papa, I would order them to refuse doing
+anything for her. I would soon humble her pride I warrant you, for
+nobody should make her puddings, or cut her bread, or do anything for
+her till she learned to be kind, and civil, and thankful too, for all
+that was done for her. I have no notion, for my part, for a child to
+give herself such airs for nothing; and because her parents happen to
+have a little more money in their pockets, for that reason to think she
+may be rude to poor folks; but though servants are poor, still surely
+they are richer than she is; I should like to ask her how much she has
+got? and which way she came by it? A child I am sure is no richer than a
+beggar, for they have not a farthing that is not given them through mere
+bounty; whereas a servant who works for his living, has a right and just
+claim to his wages, and may truly call them his own; but a child has
+not one farthing that is not its parents. So here's my service to you,
+Miss,' said he, (again lifting the ale-mug to his mouth) 'and wishing
+her a speedy reformation of manners, I drink to her very good health.'
+
+John drank to the bottom of the mug, and then shaking the last drop
+into the ashes under the grate, he told the following story, as he sat
+swinging the mug by its handle across his two forefingers, which he had
+joined for that purpose.
+
+'When my father was a young man he lived at one Mr. Speedgo's, as upper
+footman: they were vastly rich. Mr. Speedgo was a merchant, and by good
+luck he gathered gold as fast as his neighbours would pick up stones (as
+a body may say). So they kept two or three carriages, there was a coach,
+and a chariot, and a phaeton, and I can't tell what besides, and a power
+of servants you may well suppose to attend them all; and very well they
+lived, with plenty of victuals and drink. But though they wanted for
+nothing still they never much loved either their master or mistress,
+they used to give their orders in so haughty and imperious a manner; and
+if asked a civil question, answer so shortly, as if they thought their
+servants not worthy of their notice: so that, in short, no one loved
+them, nor their children either, for they brought them up just like
+themselves, to despise everyone poorer than they were; and to speak as
+cross to their servants as if they had been so many adders they were
+afraid would bite them.
+
+'I have heard my father say, that if Master Speedgo wanted his horse
+to be got ready, he would say, "Saddle my horse!" in such a displeasing
+manner as made it quite a burthen to do anything for him. Or if the
+young ladies wanted a piece of bread and butter, or cake, they would
+say, "Give me a bit of cake;" or, if they added the word pray to
+it, they spoke in such a grumpy way, as plainly showed they thought
+themselves a deal better than their servants; forgetting that an honest
+servant is just as worthy a member of society as his master, and whilst
+he behaves well, as much deserving of civility as anybody. But to go
+on with my story. I have already told you Mr. Speedgo was very rich and
+very proud, nor would he on any account suffer anyone to visit at his
+house whom he thought below him, as he called it; or at least, if he
+did, he always took care to behave to them in such a manner, as plainly
+to let them know he thought he showed a mighty favour in conversing with
+them.
+
+'Among the rest of the servants there was one Molly Mount, as good a
+hearted girl, my father says, as ever lived: she had never received much
+education, because her parents could not afford to give her any, and
+she learned to read after she was at Mr. Speedgo's from one of the
+housemaids, who was kind enough to teach her a little; but you may
+suppose, from such sort of teaching, she was no very good scholar.
+However, she read well enough to be able to make out some chapters in
+the Bible; and an excellent use she made of them, carefully fulfilling
+every duty she there found recommended as necessary for a Christian
+to practice. She used often to say she was perfectly contented in her
+station, and only wished for more money that she might have it in
+her power to do more good. And sometimes, when she was dressing and
+attending the young ladies of the family, she would advise them to
+behave prettier than they did; telling them, "That by kindness and
+civility they would be so far from losing respect, that, on the
+contrary, they would much gain it. For we cannot (she would very truly
+say) have any respect for those people who seem to forget their human
+nature, and behave as if they thought themselves superior to the rest of
+their fellow-creatures. Young ladies and gentlemen have no occasion
+to make themselves very intimate or familiar with their servants; but
+everybody ought to speak civilly and good-humouredly, let it be to whom
+it may: and if I was a lady I should make it a point never to look cross
+or speak gruffly to the poor, for fear they should think I forgot I was
+of the same human nature as they were." By these kind of hints, which
+every now and then she would give to the misses, they were prodigiously
+offended, and complained of her insolence, as they called it, to their
+mamma, who very wrongly, instead of teaching them to behave better,
+joined with them in blaming Molly for her freedom, and, to show her
+displeasure at her conduct, put on a still haughtier air, whenever she
+spoke to her, than she did to any other of the servants. Molly, however,
+continued to behave extremely well, and often very seriously lamented
+in the kitchen the wrong behaviour of the family. "I don't mind it," she
+would say, "for my own part; I know that I do my duty, and their cross
+looks and proud behaviour can do me no real harm: but I cannot help
+grieving for their sakes; it distresses me to think that people who
+ought to know better, should, by their ill conduct, make themselves so
+many enemies, when they could so easily gain friends--I am astonished
+how anybody can act so foolishly."
+
+'In this sensible manner she would frequently talk about the sin as
+well as the folly of pride. And one day, as she was talking to her
+fellow-servants, rather louder than in prudence she ought to have done,
+her two young ladies overheard her; and the next time she went to dress
+them, they enquired what it was she had been saying to the other maids.
+"Indeed, ladies," said she, "I hope you will excuse my telling you. I
+think, if you give yourselves time to reflect a little, you will not
+insist upon knowing, as it is beneath such rich ladies as you are, to
+concern yourselves with what poor servants talk about." This answer did
+not, however, satisfy them, and they positively commanded her to let
+them know. Molly was by far too good a woman to attempt to deceive
+anyone; she therefore replied, "If, ladies, you insist upon knowing what
+I said, I hope you will not take anything amiss that I may tell you,
+thus compelled as I am by your commands. You must know then, Miss Betsy
+and Miss Rachael, that I was saying how sad a thing it was for people to
+be proud because they are rich; or to fancy, because they happen to have
+a little more money, that for that reason they are better than their
+servants, when in reality the whole that makes one person better than
+another is, having superior virtues, being kinder and more good natured,
+and readier to assist and serve their fellow-creatures; these are the
+qualifications, I was saying, that make people beloved, and not being
+possessed of money. Money may, indeed, procure servants to do their
+business for them, but it is not in the power of all the riches in the
+world to purchase the love and esteem of anyone. What a sad thing then
+it is, when gentlefolks behave so as to make themselves despised; and
+that will ever be the case with all those who, like (excuse me, ladies,
+you insisted upon my telling you what I said) Miss Betsy, and Miss
+Rachael, and Master James, show such contempt to all their inferiors.
+Nobody could wish children of their fortunes to make themselves too
+free, or play with their servants; but if they were little kings and
+queens, still they ought to speak kind and civil to everyone. Indeed our
+king and queen would scorn to behave like the children of this family,
+and if--" She was going on, but they stopped her, saying, "If you say
+another word, we will push you out of the room this moment, you
+rude, bold, insolent woman; you ought to be ashamed of speaking so
+disrespectfully of your betters; but we will tell our mamma, that we
+will, and she won't suffer you to allow your tongue such liberties."
+"If," replied Molly, "I have offended you, I am sorry for it, and beg
+your pardon, ladies; I am sure I had no wish to do so; and you should
+remember that you both insisted upon my telling you what I had been
+saying." "So we did," said they, "but you had no business to say it all;
+and I promise you my mamma shall know it."
+
+'In this manner they went on for some time; but, to make short of my
+story, they represented the matter in such a manner to their mother,
+that she dismissed Molly from her service, with a strict charge never to
+visit the house again. "For," said Mrs. Speedgo, "no servant who behaves
+as you have done, shall ever enter my doors again, or eat another
+mouthful in my house." Molly had no desire so suddenly to quit her
+place; but as her conscience perfectly acquitted her of any wilful
+crime, after receiving her wages, respectfully wishing all the family
+their health, and taking a friendly leave of her fellow-servants, she
+left the house, and soon engaged herself as dairy-maid in a farmer's
+family, about three miles off; in which place she behaved so extremely
+well, and so much to the satisfaction of her master and mistress, that,
+after she had lived there a little more than two years, with their
+entire approbation, she was married to their eldest son, a sober, worthy
+young man, to whom his father gave a fortune not much less than three
+thousand pounds, with which he bought and stocked a very pretty farm in
+Somersetshire, where they lived as happy as virtue and affluence could
+make them. By industry and care they prospered beyond their utmost
+expectations, and, by their prudence and good behaviour, gained the
+esteem and love of all who knew them.
+
+'To their servants (for they soon acquired riches enough to keep three
+or four, I mean household ones, besides the number that were employed in
+the farming business) they behaved with such kindness and civility, that
+had they even given less wages than their neighbours, they would never
+have been in want of any; everyone being desirous of getting into a
+family where they were treated with such kindness and condescension.
+
+'In this happy manner they continued to live for many years, bringing
+up a large family of children to imitate their virtues; but one great
+mortification they were obliged to submit to, which was that of putting
+their children very early to boarding school, a circumstance which
+the want of education in Mrs. and indeed I may add Mr. Flail, rendered
+absolutely necessary.
+
+'But I am afraid, Mrs. Sally and Mrs. Nelly, you will be tired, as I
+have but half told my story; but I will endeavour to make short work
+of it, though indeed it deserves to be noticed, for it will teach one
+a great deal, and convince one how little the world's riches are to be
+depended on.
+
+'I have said, you know, that Mr. Speedgo was a merchant, and a very rich
+one too. It is unknown what vast sums of money he used to spend! when,
+would you think it, either through spending it too fast, or some losses
+he met with in trade, he broke all to nothing, and had not a farthing to
+pay his creditors. I forgot how many thousand pounds it was he owed;
+but it was a vast great many. Well! this you may be sure was a great
+mortification to them; they begged for mercy from their creditors; but
+as in their prosperity they had never shown much mercy themselves to
+those they thought beneath them, so now they met with very little from
+others: the poor saying they deserved it for their pride; the rich
+condemning them for their presumption, in trying to vie with those of
+superior birth; and those who had been less successful in business,
+blaming them for their extravagance, which, they said, had justly
+brought on them their misfortunes.
+
+'In this distress, in vain it was they applied for assistance to those
+they had esteemed their friends; for as they never had been careful to
+form their connections with people of real merit, only seeking to be
+acquainted with those who were rich and prosperous, so now they could no
+longer return their civilities, they found none were ready to show them
+any, but everyone seemed anxious to keep from them as much as possible.
+Thus distressed, and finding no one willing to help them, the young
+squire, Master James, was obliged to go to sea: while Miss Betsy and
+Miss Rachael were even forced to try to get their living by service,
+a way of life they were both ill qualified to undertake, for they had
+always so accustomed themselves to be waited on and attended, that they
+scarcely knew how to help themselves, much less how to work for others.
+The consequence of which was, they gave so little satisfaction to their
+employers, that they staid but a little time in a place, and from so
+frequently changing, no family, who wished to be well settled, would
+admit them, as they thought it impossible they could be good servants
+whom no one thought worthy of keeping.
+
+'It is impossible to describe the many and great mortifications those
+two young ladies met with. They now frequently recollected the words of
+Molly Mount, and earnestly wished they had attended to them whilst it
+was in their power, as by so doing they would have secured to themselves
+friends. And they very forcibly found, that, although they were poor and
+servants, yet they were as sensible of kind treatment and civility, as
+if they had been richer.
+
+'After they had been for some years changing from place to place, always
+obliged to put up with very low wages, upon account of their being so
+ill qualified for servants, it happened that Miss Betsy got into service
+at Watchet, a place about three miles distant from Mr. Flail's farm.
+Here she had a violent fit of illness, and not having been long enough
+in the family to engage their generosity to keep her, she was dismissed
+upon account of her ill health rendering her wholly incapable of doing
+her business for which she was hired. She then, with the very little
+money she had, procured a lodging in a miserable little dirty cottage;
+but through weakness being unable to work, she soon exhausted her whole
+stock, and was even obliged to quit this habitation, bad as it was, and
+for some days support herself wholly by begging from door to door, often
+meeting with very unkind language for so idle an employment; some people
+telling her to go to her parish, when, alas! her parish was many miles
+distant, and she, poor creature, had no means of getting there.
+
+'At last she wandered, in this distressful situation, to the house of
+Mr. Flail, and walked into the farm yard just at the time the cows were
+being milked. She, who for a long time had tasted nothing but bits of
+broken bread, and had no drink besides water she had scooped up in her
+hands, looked at the quantity of fresh milk with a most wishful eye;
+and, going to the women who were milking, she besought them in a moving
+manner to give her a draught, as she was almost ready to perish. "For
+pity's sake," said she, "have compassion upon a poor wretch, dying with
+sickness, hunger, and thirst; it is a long time since I have tasted
+a mouthful of wholesome victuals, my lips are now almost parched with
+thirst, and I am so faint for want, that I can scarcely stand; my
+sufferings are very great indeed, it would melt a heart of stone to hear
+the story of my woes. Oh! have pity upon a fellow-creature then, and
+give me one draught of that milk, which can never be missed out of so
+vast a quantity as you have there, and may you never, never, know what
+it is to suffer as I now do." To this piteous request, she received for
+answer, the common one of "Go about your business, we have nothing for
+you, so don't come here." "We should have enough to do indeed," said one
+of the milkers, "if we were to give every idle beggar who would like a
+draught of this delicious milk; but no, indeed, we shall not give you a
+drop; so go about your business, and don't come plaguing us here." Mrs.
+Flail, who happened to be in the yard, with one of her children who was
+feeding the chickens, overheard enough of this to make her come
+forward, and enquire what was the matter. "Nothing, ma'am," replied the
+milk-maid, "only I was sending away this nasty dirty creature, who was
+so bold as to come asking for milk indeed! But beggars grow so impudent
+now-a-days there never was the like of it." "Oh fie!" returned Mrs.
+Flail, shocked at her inhuman way of speaking, "fie upon you, to speak
+in so unkind a manner of a poor creature in distress." Then turning to
+the beggar, she inquired what she wanted, in so mild a tone of voice,
+that it encouraged her to speak and tell her distress.
+
+'Mrs. Flail listened with the greatest attention, and could not help
+being struck with her speech and appearance; for though she was clothed
+in rags (having parted with all her better clothes to pay for lodging
+and food) still there was a something in her language and manner which
+discovered that she was no common beggar. Betsy had stood all the time
+with her eyes fixed upon the ground, scarcely once lifting them to
+look at the face of Mrs. Flail; and she was so changed herself by her
+troubles and sickness, that it was impossible for any one who had ever
+seen Miss Speedgo, to recollect her in her present miserable state. Mrs.
+Flail, however, wanted no farther inducement to relieve her than to hear
+she was in want. "Every fellow-creature in distress," she used to say,
+"was a proper object of her bounty; and whilst she was blessed with
+plenty she thought it her duty to relieve, as far as she prudently
+could, all whom she knew to be in need." She therefore fetched a mug,
+and, filling it with milk herself, gave it to the poor woman to drink.
+"Here," said she, "take this, good woman, and I hope it will refresh and
+be of service to you." Betsy held out her hand for it, and, lifting her
+eyes up to look at Mrs. Flail, whilst she thanked her for her kindness,
+was greatly astonished to discover in her benefactress, the features
+of her old servant, Molly Mount. "Bless me!" said she, with an air
+of confusion, "What do I see? Who is it? Where am I? Madam, pardon my
+boldness, but pray forgive me, ma'am, but is not your name Mount?" "It
+was," replied Mrs. Flail, "but I have been married for thirteen years to
+a Mr. Flail, and that is my name now. But, pray, where did you ever see
+me before? or how came you to know anything of me?" Poor Betsy could
+return no answer, her shame at being seen by her servant that was, in
+her present condition, and the consciousness of having so ill-treated
+that very servant, to whose kindness she was now indebted; all together
+were too much for her in her weak state, and she fell senseless at Mrs.
+Flail's feet.
+
+'This still added to Mrs. Flail's surprise, and she had her carried into
+the house and laid upon a bed, where she used every means to bring her
+to herself again; which, after a considerable time, succeeded; and she
+then (covered with shame and remorse) told her who she was, and how
+she came into that miserable condition. No words can describe the
+astonishment Mrs. Flail was in, at hearing the melancholy story of her
+sufferings; nor is it possible to tell with what generosity and kindness
+she strove to comfort her, telling her to compose herself, for she
+should no longer be in want of any thing. "I have, thank Heaven," said
+she, "a most worthy good man for my husband, who will rejoice with me in
+having it in his power to relieve a suffering fellow-creature. Do not,
+therefore, any longer distress yourself upon what passed between us
+formerly. I had, for my part, forgotten it, if you had not now told it
+me; but, however I might then take the liberty to censure you for too
+much haughtiness. I am sure I have no occasion to do so now. Think no
+more, therefore, I beseech you, upon those times which are now past; but
+be comforted, and make yourself as happy as in my humble plain manner of
+living you can possibly do."
+
+'She then furnished her with some of her own clothes, till she could
+procure her new ones, and sent immediately for a physician from the next
+town; by following of whose prescription, together with good nursing,
+and plenty of all necessaries, she soon recovered her health; but she
+was too deeply affected with the thoughts of her former misconduct ever
+to feel happy in her situation, though Mrs. Flail used every method in
+her power to render her as comfortable as possible. Nor did she confine
+her goodness only to this one daughter, but sent also for her sister and
+mother (her father being dead), and fitted up a neat little house
+for them near their own. But as the Flails could not afford wholly to
+maintain them for nothing, they entrusted the poultry to their care;
+which enabled them to do with one servant less; and by that means they
+could, without any great expense, afford to give them sufficient to make
+their lives comfortable, that is, as far as their own reflections would
+let them; for the last words Mrs. Speedgo said to Molly, when she parted
+from her, dwelt continually upon her mind, and filled her with shame and
+remorse.
+
+'"I told her," said she, "that she should never again come into my
+doors, or eat another mouthful in my house; and now it is her bounty
+alone which keeps us all from perishing. Oh! how unworthy are we of such
+goodness! True, indeed, was what she told you, that kindness and virtue
+were far more valuable than riches. Goodness and kindness no time or
+change can take from us; but riches soon fly as it were away, and then
+what are we the better for having been once possessed of them?"'
+
+Here Mr. John stopped, and jumping hastily up, and turning round to Mrs.
+Sally, Mrs. Nelly, and Mr. Bob, exclaimed, rubbing his hands--'There
+ladies, I have finished my story; and, let me tell you, so long
+preaching has made my throat dry, so another mug of ale, if you please,
+Master Bobby (tapping him at the same time upon the shoulder), another
+mug of ale, my boy; for faith, talking at the rate I have done,
+is enough to wear a man's lungs out, and, in truth, I have need of
+something to hearten me after such fatigue.'
+
+'Well, I am sure,' replied Mrs. Sally and Mrs. Nelly, in the same
+breath, 'we are greatly obliged to you for your history; and I am sure
+it deserves to be framed and glazed, and it ought to be hung up in the
+hall of every family, that all people may see the sad effects of pride,
+and how little cause people have, because they are rich, to despise
+those who are poor; since it frequently happens, that those who this
+year are like little kings, may the next be beggars; and then they will
+repent, when it is too late, of all their pride and unkindness they
+showed to those beneath them.'
+
+Here the conversation was put a stop to by the bell ringing, and John
+being ordered to drive to the door. I, who during the whole of the
+history had been feasting upon a mince-pie, now thought it safer to
+conceal myself in a little hole in the wainscot of the closet, where,
+finding myself very safe, I did not awake till midnight. After the
+family were all retired to rest, I peeped out of the hole, and there saw
+just such another frightful trap as that which was the prelude to
+poor Softdown's sufferings. Startled at the sight, I retreated back as
+expeditiously as possible, nor ever stopped till I found my way into a
+bed-chamber, where lay two little girls fast asleep.
+
+I looked about for some time, peeping into every hole and corner before
+I could find any thing to eat, there being not so much as a candle in
+the room with them. At last I crept into a little leathern trunk, which
+stood on a table, not shut down quite close: here I instantly smelt
+something good: but was obliged to gnaw through a great deal of linen
+to get at it; it was wrapped up in a lap-bag, amongst a vast quantity of
+work. However, I made my way through half a hundred folds, and at last
+was amply repaid, by finding out a nice piece of plum-cake, and the pips
+of an apple, which I could easily get at, one half of it having been eat
+away. Whilst I was thus engaged I heard a cat mew, and not knowing how
+near she might be, I endeavoured to jump out; but in the hurry I somehow
+or other entangled myself in the muslin, and pulled that, trunk and all,
+down with me; for the trunk stood half off the table, so that the least
+touch in the world overset it, otherwise my weight could never have
+tumbled it down.
+
+The noise of the fall, however, waked the children, and I heard one say
+to the other,--'Bless me! Mary, what is that noise?--What can it be? I
+am almost frightened out of my wits; do, pray, sister, hug me close!'
+'Pooh!' replied the other, 'never mind it! What in the world need you
+be frightened at? What do you suppose will hurt you? It sounded as if
+something fell down; but as it has not fallen upon us, and I do not hear
+anybody stirring, or speaking as if they were hurt, what need we care
+about it? So pray, Nancy, let us go to sleep again; for as yet I have
+not had half sufficient, I am sure; I hope morning is not coming yet,
+for I am not at all ready to get up.' 'I am sure,' answered the other,
+'I wish it was morning, and daylight now, for I should like to get up
+vastly, I do not like to lay here in the dark any longer; I have a great
+mind to ring the bell, and then mamma or somebody will come to us with
+a candle.' 'And what in the world,' rejoined Mary, 'will be the use of
+that? Do you want a candle to light you to look for the wounds the noise
+has given you; or what can you wish to disturb my mamma for? Come,
+let me cuddle you, and do go to sleep, child, for I cannot think what
+occasion there is for us to keep awake because we heard a noise; I never
+knew that noise had teeth or claws to hurt one with; and I am sure this
+has not hurt me; and so, whether you choose to lie awake or not, I will
+go to sleep, and so good-bye to you, and pray do not disturb me any
+more, for I cannot talk any longer.' 'But, Mary,' again replied the
+other, 'pray do not go to sleep yet, I want to speak to you.' 'Well,
+what do you want to say?' inquired Mary. 'Why, pray have you not very
+often,' said Nancy, 'heard of thieves breaking into people's houses and
+robbing them; and I am sadly afraid that noise was some rogues coming
+in; so pray, Mary, do not go to sleep, I am in such a fright and tremble
+you cannot think. Speak, Mary, have not you, I say, heard of thieves?'
+'Yes,' replied Mary, in a very sleepy voice, 'a great many times.'
+'Well, then, pray sister, do not go to sleep,' said Nancy, in a peevish
+accent, 'suppose, I say that noise I heard should be thieves, what
+should we do? What will become of us? O! what shall we do?'--'Why, go
+to sleep, I tell you,' said Mary, 'as fast as you can; at least, do pray
+let me, for I cannot say I am in the smallest fear about house-breakers
+or house-makers either; and of all the robberies I ever heard of in all
+my life, I never heard of thieves stealing little girls; so do, there's
+a dear girl, go to sleep again, and do not so foolishly frighten
+yourself out of your wits for nothing.' 'Well,' replied Nancy, 'I will
+not keep you awake any longer; but I am sure I shall not be able to get
+another wink of sleep all night.'
+
+Here the conversation ended, and I could not help thinking how foolish
+it was for people to permit themselves to be terrified for nothing. Here
+is a little girl, now, thought I, in a nice clean room, and covered up
+warm in bed, with pretty green curtains drawn round her, to keep the
+wind from her head, and the light in the morning from her eyes; and yet
+she is distressing herself, and making herself really uncomfortable, and
+unhappy, only because I, a poor, little, harmless mouse, with scarcely
+strength sufficient to gnaw a nutshell, happened to jump from the table,
+and throw down, perhaps, her own box.--Oh! what a pity it is that people
+should so destroy their own comfort! How sweetly might this child have
+passed the night, if she had but, like her sister, wisely reflected that
+a noise could not possibly hurt them; and that, had any of the family
+occasioned it, by falling down, or running against anything in the dark
+which hurt them, most likely they would have heard some more stirring
+about.
+
+And upon this subject the author cannot help, in human form (as well as
+in that of a mouse), observing how extremely ridiculous it is for people
+to suffer themselves to be terrified upon every trifling occasion that
+happens; as if they had no more resolution than a mouse itself, which is
+liable to be destroyed every meal it makes. And, surely, nothing can
+be more absurd than for children to be afraid of thieves and
+house-breakers; since, as little Mary said, they never want to seek
+after children. Money is all they want; and as children have very seldom
+much of that in their possession, they may assure themselves they are
+perfectly safe, and have therefore no occasion to alarm themselves if
+they hear a noise, without being able to make out what it is; unless,
+indeed, like the child I have just been writing about, they would be
+so silly as to be frightened at a little mouse; for most commonly the
+noises we hear, if we lay awake in the night, are caused by mice running
+about and playing behind the wainscot: and what reasonable person would
+suffer themselves to be alarmed by such little creatures as those? But
+it is time I should return to the history of my little make-believe
+companion, who went on, saying--
+
+The conversation I have been relating I overheard as I lay concealed in
+a shoe that stood close by the bedside, and into which I ran the moment
+I jumped off the table, and where I kept snug till the next morning;
+when, just as the clock was striking eight, the same Mrs. Nelly, whom I
+saw the day before in the kitchen, entered the apartment, and accosted
+the young ladies, saying, 'Good morning to you, ladies, do you know that
+it is time to get up?' 'Then, pray, Nelly, lace my stays, will you?'
+said Miss Nancy. 'But lace mine first, and give me my other shoes; for
+those I wore yesterday must be brushed, because I stepped in the dirt,
+and so when you go down you must remember, and take and brush them, and
+then let me have them again,' said Mary; 'but come and dress me now.'
+
+Well, thought I, this is a rude way of speaking, indeed, something like
+Miss Nancy Artless, at the house where my poor dear Softdown was so
+cruelly massacred; I am sure I hope I shall not meet with the like fate
+here, and I wish I was safe out of this shoe; for, perhaps, presently it
+will be wanted to be put on Mary's foot; and I am sure I must not expect
+to meet any mercy from a child who shows so bad a disposition as to
+speak to a servant in so uncivil a manner, for no good-natured person
+would do that.
+
+With these kind of reflections I was amusing myself for some little
+time, when, all on a sudden, they were put an end to, by my finding the
+shoe in which I was concealed, hastily taken up; and before I had time
+to recollect what I had best do, I was almost killed by some violent
+blows I received, which well nigh broke every bone in my skin. I crept
+quite up to the toe of the shoe, so that I was not at all seen, and the
+maid, when she took up the shoes, held one in one hand, and the other in
+the other, by their heels, and then slapped them hard together, to beat
+out of some of the dust which was in them. This she repeated three or
+four times, till I was quite stunned; and how or which way I tumbled or
+got out, I know not; but when I came to myself. I was close up behind
+the foot of a table, in a large apartment, where were several children,
+and a gentleman and a lady, all conversing together with the greatest
+good humour and harmony.
+
+The first words I heard distinctly enough to remember, were those of
+a little boy, about five years old, who, with eagerness exclaimed--'I
+forget you! no that I never shall. If I was to go a hundred thousand
+miles off, I am sure I shall never forget you. What! do you think I
+should ever, as long as I live, if it is a million of years, forget my
+own dear papa and mamma? No; that I should not, I am very, very sure
+I never should.' 'Well, but Tom,' interrupted the gentleman, 'if in a
+million of years you should not forget us, I dare say, in less than two
+months you will forget our advice, and before you have been at school
+half that time, you will get to squabbling with and tricking the other
+boys, just as they do with one another; and instead of playing at all
+times with the strictest openness and honour, you will, I sadly fear,
+learn to cheat, and deceive, and pay no attention to what your mother
+and I have been telling you.' 'No', that I am sure I sha'n't!' replied
+the boy. 'What! do you think I shall be so wicked as to turn a thief,
+and cheat people?' 'I dare say, my dear,' resumed the father, 'you will
+not do what we call thieving; but as I know there are many naughty boys
+in all schools, I am afraid they will teach you to commit dishonourable
+actions, and to tell you there is no harm in them, and that they are
+signs of cleverness and spirit, and qualifications very necessary for
+every boy to possess.' 'Aye, that's sure enough,' said the boy, who
+appeared about ten years old, 'for they almost all declare, that if
+a boy is not sharp and cunning, he might almost as well be out of the
+world as in it. But, as you say, papa, I hate such behaviour, I am sure
+there is one of our boys, who is so wonderfully clever and acute, as
+they call him, that I detest ever having any thing to do with him; for
+unless one watches him as a cat would watch a mouse, he is sure to cheat
+or play one some trick or other.' 'What sort of tricks do you mean?'
+inquired the little boy. 'Why, I will tell you,' replied the other. 'You
+know nothing of the games we have at school, so if I was to tell you how
+he plays at them, you would not understand what I meant. But you know
+what walking about blindfold is, don't you? Well! one day, about a dozen
+boys agreed to have a blind race, and the boy who got nearest the goal,
+which was a stick driven in the ground with a shilling upon the top of
+it, was to win the shilling, provided he did it fairly without seeing.'
+'I suppose,' interrupted Tom, 'you mean the boy who got to the stick
+first.' 'No, I do not,' replied his brother, 'I mean what I say, the boy
+who got nearest it, no matter whether he came first or last; the fun
+was to see them try to keep in a straight path, with their eyes tied
+up, whilst they wander quite in the wrong, and not to try who could run
+fastest. Well! when they, were all blinded, and twisted round three or
+four times before they were suffered to set off, they directed their
+steps the way they thought would directly conduct them to the goal; and
+some of them had almost reached it, when Sharply (the boy I mentioned)
+who had placed a shilling upon the stick, for they drew lots who should
+do that, and he who furnished the money was to stand by it, to observe
+who won it by coming nearest; well, Sharply, I say, just as they came
+close to it, moved away softly to another place, above three yards
+distant from any of them (for I should have told you, that if none of
+them got within three yards, the shilling was to remain his, and they
+were each to give him a penny.) So then he untied their eyes, and
+insisted upon it they had all of them lost. But two or three of us
+happened to be by, and so we said he had cheated them, and ought not
+to keep the money, as it had fairly been won by Smyth. But he would not
+give it up, so it made a quarrel between him and Smyth, and at last they
+fought, and Mr. Chiron confined them both in the school all the rest of
+the afternoon, and when he heard what the quarrel was about, he took
+the shilling from Sharply, and called him a mean-spirited cheat; but he
+would not let Smyth have it, because he said he deserved to lose it for
+fighting about such a trifle, and so it was put into the forfeit-money.'
+
+'But pray do not you think Sharply behaved extremely wrong?' 'Shamefully
+so, indeed,' said the gentleman. 'I never could have any opinion of a
+boy 'who could act so dishonourably,' said the lady, 'let his cleverness
+be what it would.' 'Pray, Frank, tell me some more,' said the little
+boy. 'More!' replied Frank, 'I could tell you an hundred such kind of
+things. One time, as Peter Light was walking up the yard, with some
+damsons in his hat, Sharply ran by, and as he passed, knocked his hat
+out of his hand, for the sake of scrambling for as many as he could get
+himself. And sometimes, after the pie-woman has been there, he gets such
+heaps of tarts you cannot think, by his different tricks: perhaps he
+will buy a currant tart himself; then he would go about, calling out,
+"Who'll change a cheesecake for a currant tart?" and now-and-then he
+will add, "and half a bun into the bargain!" Then two or three of the
+boys call out, "I will, I will!" and when they go to hold out their
+cheesecakes to him, he snatches them out of their hands before they are
+aware, and runs away in an instant; and whilst they stand for a moment
+in astonishment, he gets so much ahead of them that he eats them up
+before they can again overtake him. At other times, when he sees a boy
+beginning to eat his cake, he will come and talk carelessly to him for
+a few moments, and then all of a sudden call out, "Look! look!
+look!-there!" pointing his finger as if to show him something wonderful;
+and when the other, without suspecting any mischief, turns his head to
+see what has so surprised him, away he snatches the cake, and runs off
+with it, cramming it into his mouth in a moment.
+
+'And when he plays at Handy-dandy, Jack-a-dandy, which will you have,
+upper hand or lower? if you happen to guess right, he slips whatever you
+are playing with into his other hand; and that you know is not playing
+fair; and so many of the boys tell him; but he does not mind any of us.
+And as he is clever at his learning, and always does his exercise quite
+right, Mr. Chiron (who indeed does not know of his tricks) is very fond
+of him, and is for ever saying what a clever fellow he is, and proposing
+him as an example to the rest of the boys; and I do believe many of
+them imitate his deceitful, cheating tricks, only for the sake of being
+thought like him.'
+
+'Aye! it is a sad thing,' interrupted the gentleman, 'that people who
+are blessed with sense and abilities to behave well, should so misuse
+them as to set a bad, instead of a good example to others, and by that
+means draw many into sin, who otherwise, perhaps, might never have
+acted wrong. Was this Sharply, you have been speaking of, a dunce and
+blockhead at his book, he would never gain the commendations that Mr.
+Chiron now bestows upon him; and, consequently, no boy would wish to be
+thought like him; his bad example, therefore, would not be of half the
+importance it now is.
+
+'Only think, then, my dear children, how extremely wicked it is, for
+those who are blessed with understandings capable of acting as they
+should do, and making people admire them, at the same time to be guilty
+of such real and great sin. For, however children at play may like to
+trick and deceive each other, and call it only play or fun, still, let
+me tell you, they are much mistaken if they flatter themselves there is
+no harm in it. It is a very wrong way of behaviour; it is mean, it
+is dishonorable, and it is wicked; and the boy or girl who would ever
+permit themselves to act in so unjustifiable a manner, however they
+may excel in their learning, or exterior accomplishments, can never be
+deserving of esteem, confidence, or regard. What esteem or respect could
+I ever entertain of a person's sense or learning, who made no better use
+of it than to practise wickedness with more dexterity and grace than he
+otherwise would be enabled to do? Or, what confidence could I ever
+place in the person who, I knew, only wanted a convenient opportunity
+to defraud, trick, and deceive me? Or, what regard and love could I
+possibly entertain for such a one, who, unless I kept a constant watch
+over, as I must over a wild beast, would, like a wild beast, be sure
+to do me some injury? Would it be possible, I say, to love such a
+character, whatever shining abilities or depth of learning he might
+possess? Ask your own hearts, my dears, whether you think you could?'
+
+To this they all answered at once, 'No, that I could not,' and 'I am
+sure I could not.' 'Well, then,' resumed the father, 'only think how
+odious that conduct must be, which robs us of the esteem, confidence,
+and love of our fellow-creatures; and that too, notwithstanding we may
+at the same time be very clever, and have a great deal of sense and
+learning. But, for my part, I confess I know not the least advantage of
+our understanding or our learning, unless we make a proper use of them.
+Knowing a great deal, and having read a great many books, will be of
+no service to us, unless we are careful to make a proper use of that
+knowledge, and to improve by what we read, otherwise the time we so
+bestow is but lost, and we might as well spend the whole of our lives in
+idleness.
+
+'Always remember, therefore, my loves, that the whole end of our taking
+the trouble to instruct you, or putting ourselves to the expense of
+sending you to school, or your attending to what is taught you, is,
+that you may grow better men and women than you otherwise would be; and
+unless, therefore, you do improve, we might as well spare ourselves the
+pains and expense, and you need not take the trouble of learning; since,
+if you will act wickedly, all our labour is but thrown away to no manner
+of purpose.
+
+'Mr. and Mrs. Sharply, how I pity them! What sorrow must they endure,
+to behold their son acting in the manner you have described; for nothing
+can give so much concern to a fond parent's heart, as to see their
+children, for whom they have taken so much pains, turn out naughty;
+and to deceive and cheat! What can be worse than that? I hope, my dear
+children, you will never, any of you, give us that dreadful misery! I
+hope, my dear Tom, I hope you will never learn any of those detestable
+ways your brother has been telling you of. And if it was not that
+you will often be obliged to see such things when you mix with other
+children, I should be sorry you should even hear of such bad actions,
+as I could wish you to pass through life without so much as knowing
+such wickedness ever existed; but that is impossible. There are so many
+naughty people in the world, that you will often be obliged to see and
+hear of crimes which I hope you will shudder to think of committing
+yourselves; and being warned of them beforehand, I hope it will put you
+more upon your guard, not to be tempted, upon any consideration, to give
+the least encouragement to them, much less to practise them yourselves.
+
+'Perhaps, Tom, if your brother had not, by telling us of Sharply's
+tricks, given me an opportunity of warning you how extremely wrong and
+wicked they are, you might when you were at school, have thought them
+very clever, and marks of genius; and therefore, like others of the
+boys, have tried to imitate them, and by that means have become as
+wicked, mean, and dishonourable yourself. And only think how it would
+have grieved your mamma and me, to find the next holidays, our dear
+little Tom, instead of being that honest, open, generous-hearted boy
+he now is, changed into a deceiver, a cheat, a liar, one whom we could
+place no trust or confidence in; for, depend upon it, the person who
+will, when at play, behave unfair, would not scruple to do so in even
+other action of his life. And the boy who will deceive for the sake of a
+marble, or the girl who would act ungenerously, for the sake of a doll's
+cap or a pin, will, when grown up, be ready to cheat and over-reach
+in their trades, or any affairs they may have to transact. And you may
+assure yourselves that numbers of people who are every year hanged,
+began at first to be wicked by practising those little dishonourable
+mean actions, which so many children are too apt to do at play, without
+thinking of their evil consequences.
+
+'I think, my dear,' said he, turning to his wife, 'I have heard you
+mention a person who you were acquainted with when a girl, who at last
+was hanged for stealing, I think, was not she?' 'No,' replied the lady,
+'she was not hanged, she was transported for one-and-twenty years.'
+'Pray, madam, how transported? what is that?' inquired one of the
+children. 'People, my dear,' resumed the lady, 'are transported when
+they have committed crimes, which, according to the laws of our land,
+are not thought quite wicked enough to be hanged for; but still too bad
+to suffer them to continue amongst other people. So, instead of hanging
+them, the judge orders that they shall be sent on board a ship, built on
+purpose to hold naughty people, and carried away from all their friends,
+a great many miles distant, commonly to America, where they are sold as
+slaves, to work very hard for as many years as they are transported for.
+And the person your papa mentioned was sold for twenty-one years;
+but she died before that time was out, as most of them do: they are
+generally used very cruelly, and work very hard; and besides, the heat
+of the climate seldom agrees with anybody who has been used to live in
+England, and so they generally die before their time is expired, and
+never have an opportunity of seeing their friends any more, after they
+are once sent away. How should any of you, my dears, like to be sent
+away from your papa and me, and your brothers and sisters, and uncles
+and aunts, and all your friends, and never, never see us any more; and
+only keep company with naughty, cross, wicked people, and labour
+very hard, and suffer a great deal of sickness, and such a number of
+different hardships, you cannot imagine? Only think how shocking it must
+be! How should you like it?' 'Oh', not at all, not at all,' was echoed
+from everyone in the room.
+
+'But such,' rejoined their mother, 'is the punishment naughty people
+have; and such was the punishment the person your papa spoke of had;
+who, when she was young, no more expected to come to such an end than
+any of you do. I was very well acquainted with her, and often used to
+play with her, and she (like the boy Frank has been talking of) used to
+think it a mark of cleverness to be able to deceive; and for the sake
+of winning the game she was engaged in, would not scruple committing any
+little unfair action, which would give her the advantage.
+
+'I remember one time, at such a trifling game as pushpin, she gave me a
+very bad opinion of her; for I observed, instead of pushing the pin as
+she ought to do, she would try to lift it up with her finger a little,
+to make it cross over the other.
+
+'And when we were all at cards, she would peep, to find out the pictured
+ones, that she might have them in her own hand.
+
+'And when we played at any game which had forfeits, she would try, by
+different little artifices, to steal back her own before the time of
+crying them came; or, if she was the person who was to cry them, as
+you call it, she would endeavour to see whose came next, that she might
+order the penalty accordingly.
+
+'Or if we were playing at hide and seek, she would put what we had to
+hide either in her own pocket, or throw it into the fire, so that it
+would be impossible to find it; and then, after making her companions
+hunt for it for an hour, till their patience was quite tired, and they
+gave out; she would burst out in a loud laugh! and say she only did it
+for fun. But, for my part, I never could see any joke in such kind of
+things: the meanness, the baseness, the dish on our (sic), which
+attendedit always, in my opinion, took off all degree of cleverness,
+or pleasure from such actions.
+
+'There was another of her sly tricks which I forgot to mention, and that
+was, if at tea, or any other time, she got first to the plate of cake
+or bread, she would place the piece she liked best where she thought
+it would come to her turn to have it: or if at breakfast she saw her
+sisters' basin have the under crust in it, and they happened not to be
+by, or to see her, she would take it out, and put her own, which she
+happened not to like so well, in the stead.
+
+'Only think, my dears, what frightful, sly, naughty tricks to be guilty
+of! And from practising these, which she said there was no harm in, and
+she only did them in play, and for a bit of fun, at last she came, by
+degrees, to be guilty of greater. She two or three different times, when
+she was not seen, stole things out of shops; and one day, when she
+was upon a visit, and thought she could do it cleverly, without being
+discovered, put a couple of table spoons into her pocket. The footman
+who was waiting happened to see her; but fearing to give offence, he
+took no notice of it till after she was gone home, when he told his
+master, who, justly provoked at being so ill-treated, by a person to
+whom he had shown every civility, went after her, called in her own two
+maids, and his footman, as witnesses, and then insisted upon examining
+her pockets, where he indeed found his own two spoons. He then sent for
+proper officers to secure her, had her taken into custody, and for that
+offence it was that she was transported.
+
+'Thus, my dear children, you see the shocking consequence of ever
+suffering such vile habits to grow upon us; and I hope the example
+of this unhappy woman (which I assure you is a true story) will be
+sufficient to warn you for ever, for a single time, being guilty of
+so detestable a crime, lest you should, like her, by degrees come to
+experience her fatal punishment.'
+
+Just as the lady said these words a bell rang, and all getting up
+together, they went out of the room, the young one calling out, 'To
+dinner! to dinner! to dinner! here we all go to dinner!'
+
+And I will seek for one too, said I to myself, (creeping out as soon
+as I found I was alone) for I feel very faint and hungry. I looked and
+looked about a long while, for I could move but slow, on account of the
+bruises I had received in the shoe. At last under the table, round which
+the family had been sitting, I found a pincushion, which, being stuffed
+with bran, afforded me enough to satisfy my hunger, but was excessively
+dry and unsavoury; yet, bad as it was, I was obliged to be content at
+that time with it; and had nearly done eating when the door opened, and
+in ran two or three of the children. Frightened out of my senses almost,
+I had just time to escape down a little hole in the floor, made by one
+of the knots in the wood slipping out, and there I heard one of the
+girls exclaim--
+
+'O dear! who now has cut my pincushion? it was you did it, Tom.' 'No,
+indeed I did not,' replied he. 'Then it was you, Mary.' 'No, I know
+nothing of it,' answered she. 'Then it was you, Hetty.' 'That I am sure
+it was not,' said she; 'I am sure, I am certain it was not me; I am
+positive it was not.' 'Ah,' replied the other, 'I dare say it was.'
+'Yes, I think it is most likely,' said Mary. 'And so do I too,' said
+Tom. 'And pray why do you all think so?' inquired Hetty, in an angry
+tone. 'Because,' said the owner of the pincushion, 'you are the only one
+who ever tells fibs; you told a story, you know, about the fruit; you
+told a story too about the currant jelly; and about putting your fingers
+in the butter, at breakfast; and therefore there is a very great reason
+why we should suspect you more than anybody else.' 'But I am sure,' said
+she, bursting into tears, 'I am very sure I have not meddled with it.'
+'I do not at all know that,' replied the other, 'and I do think it was
+you; for I am certain if any one else had done it they would not deny
+it; and it could not come into this condition by itself, somebody must
+have done it; and I dare say it was you; so say no more about it.'
+
+Here the dispute was interrupted by somebody calling them out of the
+room; and I could not help making some reflections on what had passed.
+How dreadful a crime, thought I, is lying and falsity; to what sad
+mortifications does it subject the person who is ever wicked enough to
+commit it; and how does it expose them to the contempt of everyone, and
+make them to be suspected of faults they are even perfectly free from.
+Little Hetty now is innocent, with respect to the pincushion with which
+her sister charges her, as any of the others; yet, because she has
+before forfeited her honour, she can gain no credit: no one believes
+what she says, she is thought to be guilty of the double fault of
+spoiling the pincushion, and what is still worse, of lying to conceal
+it; whilst the other children are at once believed, and their words
+depended upon.
+
+Surely, surely, thought I, if people would but reflect upon the
+contempt, the shame, and the difficulties which lies expose them to,
+they would never be guilty of so terrible a vice, which subjects them
+to the scorn of all they converse with, and renders them at all times
+suspected, even though they should, as in the case of Hetty, really
+speak the truth. Such were my reflections upon falsehood, nor could
+I help altogether blaming the owner of the pincushion for her hasty
+judgment relating to it. Somebody, she was certain, must have done it;
+it was impossible it could come so by itself. That, to be sure, was very
+true; but then she never recollected that it was possible a little mouse
+might put it in that condition. Ah! thought I to myself, what pity is
+it, that human creatures, who are blest with understanding and faculties
+so superior to any species, should not make better use of them; and
+learn, from daily experience, to grow wiser and better for the future.
+This one instance of the pincushion, may teach (and surely people
+engaged in life must hourly find more) how dangerous it is to draw hasty
+conclusions, and to condemn people upon suspicion, as also the many,
+great, and bad consequences of lying.
+
+Scarcely had I finished these soliloquies when a great knock at the
+house door made me give such a start that I fell off the joist on which
+I was standing, and then ran straight forwards till I came out at a
+little hole I found in the bricks above the parlour window: from that
+I descended into the road, and went on unmolested till I reached a
+malt-house, about whose various apartments, never staying long in
+the same, I continued to live; till one night, all on a sudden, I
+was alarmed by fire, which obliged me to retreat with the greatest
+expedition.
+
+I passed numberless rats and mice in my way, who, like myself, were
+driven forth by the flames; but, alas! among them I found not my
+brother. Despairing, therefore, of ever seeing him again, I determined,
+if possible, to find my way back to you, who before had shown me
+such kindness. Numberless were the fatigues and difficulties I had to
+encounter in my journey here; one while in danger from hungry cats, at
+another almost perished with cold and want of food.
+
+But it is needless to enumerate every particular; I should but tire your
+patience was I to attempt it; so I will hasten to a conclusion of my
+history, only telling you how you came to find me in that melancholy
+condition from which your mercy has now raised me.
+
+I came into your house one evening concealed in the middle of a
+floor-cloth, which the maid had rolled up and set at the outside of the
+back door, whilst she swept the passage, and neglected to take it in
+again till the evening, In that I hid myself, and upon her laying it
+down, ran with all speed down the cellar-stairs, where I continued till
+the family were all gone to bed. Then I returned back, and came into
+your closet, where the scent of some figs tempted me to get into the jar
+in which you found me. I concealed myself among them, and after feasting
+most deliciously, fell asleep, from which I was awakened by hearing a
+voice say, "Who has left the cover off the fig-jar?" and at the
+same time I was involved in darkness by having it put on. In vain I
+endeavoured to remove it, the figs were so low, that when I stood on
+them I could but just touch it with my lips, and the jar being stone I
+could not possibly fasten my nails to hang by the side.
+
+In this dismal situation therefore I was constrained to stay, my
+apprehensions each day increasing as my food diminished, till at last,
+after feeding very sparingly for some days, it was quite exhausted; and
+I had endured the inexpressible tortures of hunger for three days and
+three nights, when you happily released me, and by your compassion
+restored me once more to life and liberty. Condescend, therefore,
+to preserve that life you have so lengthened, and take me under your
+protection.
+
+'That most gladly,' interrupted I, 'I will do: you will live in this
+large green-flowered tin canister, and run in and out when you please,
+and I will keep you constantly supplied with food. But I must now shut
+you in, for the cat has this moment entered the room.'
+
+
+
+And now I cannot take leave of all my little readers, without once more
+begging them, for their own sakes, to endeavour to follow all the good
+advice the mouse has been giving them; and likewise warning them to shun
+all those vices and follies, the practice of which renders children so
+contemptible and wicked.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and Perambulations of a Mouse, by 
+Dorothy Kilner
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