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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:14:44 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:14:44 -0700 |
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diff --git a/24872-h/24872-h.htm b/24872-h/24872-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..56bc31f --- /dev/null +++ b/24872-h/24872-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3349 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse, by Arthur Scott Bailey. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + img {border: 0;} + .tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + ins {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: justify;} + + .bbox {border: solid 2px; margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .unindent {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + .right {text-align: right;} + .poem {margin-left: 30%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: left;} + .poem2 {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: left;} + .sig {margin-right: 10%; text-align: right;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse, by Arthur Scott Bailey + +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 Tale of Master Meadow Mouse + +Author: Arthur Scott Bailey + +Illustrator: Eleanor Fagan + +Release Date: March 19, 2008 [EBook #24872] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF MASTER MEADOW MOUSE *** + + + + +Produced by Joe Longo, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 305px;"> +<img src="images/illus-cover.jpg" width="305" height="400" alt="Cover" title="Cover" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/illus-0head.jpg" width="600" height="177" alt="The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse" title="The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 263px;"> +<img src="images/illus-front.jpg" width="263" height="400" alt="Master Meadow Mouse gets on the raft" title="Master Meadow Mouse gets on the raft" /> +<span class="caption">Master Meadow Mouse gets on the raft</span> +</div> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 395px;"> +<img src="images/illus-title.jpg" width="395" height="600" alt="Title Page" title="Title Page" /> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class='center'><span class="smcap"><small>Copyright, 1921, by</small></span><br /> + +<small>GROSSET & DUNLAP</small></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td align='left'><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">A Fat Little Fellow</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">A Peep at the World</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_6">6</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">The Kitten</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">A Pleasant Stranger</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Mr. Frog Insists</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Meeting Mr. Crow</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Nothing but Air</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Moses Mouse</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Miss Snooper</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">A Handy Sign</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">A Castle in the Air</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">A Midnight Frolic</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">A Moonlight Raid</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">The Masked Bandit</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">The Flood</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">On the Raft</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVII</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">A Lucky Escape</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Under the Snow</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIX</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Owl Friends</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XX</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Eating a Tree</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXI</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">A Cold Dip</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXII</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Fishing for Mice</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIII</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Moving Day</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIV</td><td align='left'> <span class="smcap">Master or Mister?</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-1head.jpg" width="400" height="319" alt="1: A Fat Little Fellow" title="1: A Fat Little Fellow" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Master Meadow Mouse</span> was pudgy. His +legs were so short and his tail was so short +and his ears were so short that he looked +even fatter than he really was. And +goodness knows he was plump enough—especially +toward fall when the corn was +ripe.</div> + +<p>He lived in Farmer Green's meadow. +And he never harmed anybody. For +Master Meadow Mouse was fat and good-natured.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> + +<p>Friendly folk, such as Paddy Muskrat +and Billy Woodchuck, liked him because +he was good-natured. They always +smiled pleasantly when they spoke of him. +And unfriendly folk, such as Peter Mink +and Tommy Fox, liked him because he +was fat. When they mentioned him they +always grinned horribly and licked their +lips.</p> + +<p>Now, it was a pity that in Pleasant Valley, +where Farmer Green's meadow lay, +there were many of the fat-loving kind. +Not only Peter Mink and Tommy Fox, +but Grumpy Weasel, Solomon Owl, Ferdinand +Frog, Henry Hawk and even Miss +Kitty Cat were usually on the watch for +Master Meadow Mouse. Naturally, he +soon learned to be on the lookout for them. +And if he hadn't seen them first he would +never have grown up to be <i>Mister</i> Meadow +Mouse.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + +<p>In spite of all those enemies, Master +Meadow Mouse managed to enjoy life in +Farmer Green's meadow. Usually he +found plenty of seeds to eat. He liked to +swim in Broad Brook. And in winter, +when the snow was deep, he made tunnels +beneath it, and a nest, too, which was snug +and warm under the thick white blanket +that covered it.</p> + +<p>The only time Master Meadow Mouse +was ever known to lose his temper was +when Farmer Green mowed the meadow. +Under the high grass Master Meadow +Mouse had been able to run about his well-beaten +paths unseen by hawks. But with +the grass cut and raked, leaving only +naked stubble, he couldn't hide even from +old Mr. Crow. It was no wonder that he +agreed with Bobby Bobolink's wife. The +Bobolink family were so upset by haying +that they moved to Cedar Swamp at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +very first clatter of the mowing machine. +And when Master Meadow Mouse bade +them good-by Mrs. Bobolink said to him, +"What a shame that Farmer Green +should break up a happy home like ours!" +And Master Meadow Mouse remarked +that it was very careless of Farmer Green. +"He might have waited till the snow +comes, at least, before cutting the grass," +said Master Meadow Mouse.</p> + +<p>"You'd better move to Cedar Swamp +with us," Mrs. Bobolink suggested. "It's +a fine place. I know, for we lived there +last fall."</p> + +<p>But Master Meadow Mouse didn't want +to move.</p> + +<p>"The grass will grow again," he explained. +"Farmer Green can't stop the +grass from growing, no matter how often +he cuts it." And of course that was quite +true.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> + +<p>After haying Master Meadow Mouse +had to be more careful than ever. He +knew that the hawks would scan the +meadow many times a day in hopes of +catching a glimpse of his reddish-brown +back.</p> + +<p>Luckily he succeeded in dodging them. +And he dodged a good many other fierce +rascals long after winter with its snow +had descended on Pleasant Valley. Yet +he never complained. He said that danger +kept the days—and nights too—from +being dull.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-1end.jpg" width="400" height="240" alt="Mrs. Bobolink" title="Mrs. Bobolink" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-2head.jpg" width="400" height="211" alt="2: A Peep at the World" title="2: A Peep at the World" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">What</span> is the earliest thing you can remember? +Master Meadow Mouse's earliest +memory was of lying in a soft nest of +dried grasses. Sometimes the nest was in +inky darkness; and then it was night. +Sometimes a shaft of light fell upon the +nest through a round hole just above his +head; and then it was daytime.</div> + +<p>That round hole went upwards—straight +upwards—for about a foot. And +when Master Meadow Mouse looked +through it he could see, on pleasant days, +a patch of brilliant blue, which was a bit +of sky.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> + +<p>One day a desire seized him to touch +that round blue spot. So when his +mother was away he crawled up through +the hole. But when he reached the other +end of it he found, to his great surprise, +that the blue disk was ever so much bigger +than he had thought it, and seemed further +away than it had when he gazed at it +through the round tunnel.</p> + +<p>All this was very puzzling. And he +stood in the meadow near the mouth of the +tunnel, peering around and wondering +what this, that and the other strange thing +might be. For he saw many wonderful +new sights.</p> + +<p>If his mother hadn't come home and +found him out of the nest there's no +telling what would have happened to +him.</p> + +<p>"Get back!" she cried, pushing him towards +the mouth of the tunnel—their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +doorway. "It's a mercy Henry Hawk +hasn't spied you."</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse hung back. He +didn't want to be hurried away from the +new world that he had just discovered.</p> + +<p>"I don't see Henry Hawk," he +squeaked.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Meadow Mouse gave a sort of +grunt.</p> + +<p>"Humph! You wouldn't know him if +you saw him," she retorted. "Besides, +he could see you long before you could see +him, for his eyes are wonderfully keen." +Then she gave her son a poke that sent +him into the tunnel and bouncing down +upon the soft nest at the bottom of it. +"You stay there until I come home +again!" she called. "Do you want to go +where your two brothers and your three +sisters went?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Meadow Mouse did not wait for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +her son's answer. She went off again and +left him to ponder over her question.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse decided to mind +his mother. Although he didn't know +what had become of his squirming companions, +who had already begun to crowd +the nest, somehow his mother's query carried +something of a threat. He wondered +if the mysterious Henry Hawk had had +anything to do with the vanishing of the +rest of the children.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse proved to be a +hearty eater. And since he no longer had +to share with others the food that his +mother brought home to him, he grew fast. +It wasn't long before Mrs. Meadow Mouse +took him above ground with her and let +him play near home.</p> + +<p>She taught him many things—how to +find ripe seeds to eat, how to keep still as +a mouse and not squeak when there was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +danger of any kind, and how to dodge into +their tunnel when there was need.</p> + +<p>Little by little Master Meadow Mouse +wandered further from his own dooryard. +And he began to think that his mother +was too careful. There seemed to be no +need of heeding all her warnings.</p> + +<p>Then came the day when he met the kitten +from the farmhouse.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-2end.jpg" width="400" height="315" alt="Hawk" title="Hawk" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-3head.jpg" width="400" height="213" alt="3: The Kitten" title="3: The Kitten" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Master Meadow Mouse</span> had rambled +about the meadow without paying much +heed to safety. Although he still seemed +to listen politely whenever his mother +gave him a lecture on dangerous birds or +beasts, half the time he didn't know what +she was saying. He had decided that her +fears were foolish. He was sure that +nothing could harm him.</div> + +<p>He was thinking that very thought one +day when he came face to face suddenly +with a huge, furry creature. At least the +stranger seemed terribly big in the eyes of +Master Meadow Mouse, though it was only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +a kitten belonging to Miss Kitty Cat, who +lived at Farmer Green's house.</p> + +<p>Like Master Meadow Mouse, the kitten +was exploring the meadow. To her, as to +him, it was a new world.</p> + +<p>It would be hard to say which of the +two was the more surprised.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Master Meadow Mouse squeaked +right out loud. "I—I—I wish I'd stayed +at home."</p> + +<p>"Ho!" the kitten mewed. "I'm glad I +came a-hunting."</p> + +<p>The kitten sprang at Master Meadow +Mouse. But when he didn't run she +stopped in her tracks and stared at him. +She had expected him to flee, as the mice +at the farmhouse always did whenever a +body met them.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with you?" the kitten +asked him. "Don't you know that +you ought to run when I jump at you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse made no reply. +How could he know that the mice at the +farmhouse were ever so much sprier than +he was and that they always trusted to +their legs to get them out of harm's way? +His family had always done differently. +Unless there was a hole near-by, big +enough for them but too small for a pursuer, +they had ever stood their ground +when attacked and fought while they +could. Master Meadow Mouse knew no +other way. It was something that had +been handed down to him along with his +short tail and his reddish-brown back.</p> + +<p>Somehow, as she stood and gazed at +Master Meadow Mouse the kitten thought +he was growing bigger every moment. +She began to feel uneasy about pouncing +on him. It was one thing to clap a paw +down on the back of somebody that was +running away from her. And it was an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +entirely different matter to seize a person +that didn't try to escape, but faced her almost +boldly.</p> + +<p>"Hunting isn't so much fun as I expected," +she muttered. For a moment or +two she was tempted to scamper back to +the farmhouse. And then she thought +how pleased her mother would be if she +brought that fat fellow home in her mouth +and laid him at her mother's feet—how +pleased and how proud!</p> + +<p>To help her courage the kitten began +to lash her tail, jerking it from side to +side as she had seen her mother move her +own. And she crouched her chubby body +lower in the grass.</p> + +<p>Then the kitten jumped. And the moment +she was within his reach Master +Meadow Mouse gave her a smart nip on +the nose with his sharp little teeth.</p> + +<p>The kitten squalled. And she backed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +hastily away. "You'd better run!" she +advised Master Meadow Mouse. "I shall +not give you another chance!"</p> + +<p>But he stood fast. And the kitten +didn't give him another chance, either to +run from her, or to bite her nose again. +She fell into a sudden panic and bounded +awkwardly away toward the farmhouse.</p> + +<p>And then Master Meadow Mouse ran. +He ran home as fast as he could go.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 380px;"> +<img src="images/illus-3end.jpg" width="380" height="312" alt="Kitten" title="Kitten" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-4head.jpg" width="400" height="212" alt="4: A Pleasant Stranger" title="4: A Pleasant Stranger" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">The</span> whole Meadow Mouse family enjoyed +swimming. They liked to live near water. +That was why they made their home in +the low meadow, where Broad Brook ran +deeper and more quietly than in the hillside +pasture. And Black Creek, too, was +near-by. So the Meadow Mouse family +never had to travel far when they wanted +a cool dip.</div> + +<p>Almost as soon as he was able to +wander about the meadow alone Master +Meadow Mouse began to swim. He didn't +have to be taught, any more than he had +to be taught how to walk. Swimming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +came to him as easily as eating. And his +mother never worried about his being +drowned. But when he went for his first +swim in Black Creek Mrs. Meadow Mouse +couldn't help feeling a bit anxious.</p> + +<p>"Look out!" she warned her son. +"Look out for the Pickerel tribe! +They're the most dangerous fish in the +creek."</p> + +<p>"Yes!" said Master Meadow Mouse. +"I know that. I've been told about them +already."</p> + +<p>"You have!" his mother exclaimed. +"Who told you?"</p> + +<p>"A greenish gentleman with a very +wide smile and queer, bulging eyes," Master +Meadow Mouse replied.</p> + +<p>"That's Ferdinand Frog!" Mrs. +Meadow Mouse cried. "He's as dangerous +as any Pickerel that ever swam. +Where did you meet him?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I stood on the bank of the creek one +day and saw him among the lily pads," +her son explained. "We had quite a long +talk together.... I forgot to mention it +to you," he added.</p> + +<p>The news made Mrs. Meadow Mouse +turn slightly pale. She shuddered although +the day was warm; for she feared +and detested Ferdinand Frog.</p> + +<p>"Don't ever go near that slippery villain!" +she warned her son. "If you ever +see him when you are swimming in the +creek, make for the shore at once."</p> + +<p>Now, Master Meadow Mouse sometimes +thought that he knew more than his +mother, about certain matters. And he +was inclined to take her advice lightly.</p> + +<p>"Ferdinand Frog was very pleasant +when I met him," he remarked. "He +cracked jokes. And he laughed at them +himself."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, he's pleasant enough," Mrs. +Meadow Mouse agreed. "He'd grin and +swallow you at the same time with that +great mouth of his. That's what makes +him so dangerous."</p> + +<p>"Well, he's a fine swimmer, anyhow," +her son declared.</p> + +<p>"Another reason why you should avoid +him!" his mother retorted.</p> + +<p>"You ought to see him dive," said Master +Meadow Mouse. "He promised to +teach me to dive if I'd join him in the +water."</p> + +<p>"It's a mercy you didn't,". Mrs. +Meadow Mouse gasped. "I'm glad you +had sense enough to stay on the bank."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I knew better than to take a swim +in the creek that day," Master Meadow +Mouse said. "The Pickerel family were +nosing about among the pickerel weeds +around the bend of the creek. I saw them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +myself. And Mr. Frog told me I ought to +beware of them. He was very anxious—so +he said—about me and the Pickerel. +He said he didn't want them to catch me. +He was very kind, I thought."</p> + +<p>"Kind!" Mrs. Meadow Mouse spluttered. +"He didn't want them to catch +you because he hopes to catch you himself!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-4end.jpg" width="400" height="256" alt="Fish" title="Fish" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-5head.jpg" width="400" height="208" alt="5: Mr. Frog Insists" title="5: Mr. Frog Insists" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Master Meadow Mouse</span> had come to +Black Creek to enjoy his first swim in its +dark, sluggish water. But when he arrived +on the bank he changed his mind +about swimming there that day. For +whom should he see but Ferdinand Frog, +sitting on a rock at the edge of the creek.</div> + +<p>For once Master Meadow Mouse was +ready to take his mother's advice. She +had told him to beware of Ferdinand Frog +and never, never, never to enter the water +when that pleasant gentleman was in it.</p> + +<p>Ferdinand Frog proved to be as agreeable +as ever. When he caught sight of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +Master Meadow Mouse Mr. Frog bade him +a hearty good morning in a deep voice +which was vastly different from the tiny +squeak of the small person on the bank.</p> + +<p>"You've come for a swim—haven't +you?" said Ferdinand Frog.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse admitted that +he <i>had</i> intended to swim. But he explained +that the water looked wetter than +usual and he thought he'd wait till another +day. "Besides," he added, "the sun has +gone under a cloud and my suit wouldn't +dry quickly enough."</p> + +<p>"Come right in and have your swim!" +Mr. Frog urged him. "You can change +your clothes as soon as you get home."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no—I can't," said Master Meadow +Mouse.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" Mr. Frog asked him.</p> + +<p>"Because I haven't any more!"</p> + +<p>"Now, that's a pity," Ferdinand Frog<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +told him. "A handsome youngster like +you ought to have a best suit to wear on +special occasions."</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse looked interested.</p> + +<p>"I'd like a nice new suit," he replied. +"But where am I going to get it?"</p> + +<p>"You've come to the right place!" Mr. +Frog cried. "Maybe you didn't know +that I'm a tailor. I'll make you a new +suit myself!"</p> + +<p>"That's very kind of you," said Master +Meadow Mouse a bit doubtfully. "But I +don't know how I could pay you."</p> + +<p>The tailor laughed merrily.</p> + +<p>"Don't you worry about that!" he exclaimed. +"I'll get my pay somehow. +And now you must come to my shop at +once. I want to take your measure."</p> + +<p>Mr. Meadow Mouse shook his head.</p> + +<p>"No!" he told Mr. Frog. "I'm not go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>ing +to your shop. I'm not going a single +step nearer to you than I am now. I've +taken <i>your</i> measure already, Mr. Frog. +I know your game. And you can't catch +me that way."</p> + +<p>For once Ferdinand Frog forgot to +laugh. He was so surprised that his +mouth fell wide open as he stared at Master +Meadow Mouse.</p> + +<p>He had an enormous mouth. Master +Meadow Mouse shivered slightly as he +looked down Mr. Frog's throat.</p> + +<p>The tailor closed his mouth almost immediately. +For a huge pickerel came nosing +among the lily pads. And spying Mr. +Frog, he at once darted towards him.</p> + +<p>Mr. Frog swam off in great haste.</p> + +<p>"That Pickerel person," said Mr. +Meadow Mouse aloud, "means to take Mr. +Frog's measure if he can."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-6head.jpg" width="400" height="225" alt="6: Meeting Mr. Crow" title="6: Meeting Mr. Crow" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">During</span> his first summer in Pleasant Valley +Master Meadow Mouse had often noticed +old Mr. Crow flying from the woods +to the cornfield. Once in a while Mr. +Crow dropped down into the meadow on +some business or other. But Master +Meadow Mouse did not fear him. The +grass was high in the meadow, screening +the goings and comings of Master Meadow +Mouse from prying eyes.</div> + +<p>But after haying time the meadow was +a different place. There was no cover +over Master Meadow Mouse's paths. He +had to be watchful all the time, because<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +Henry Hawk had an unpleasant habit of +sailing high up in the sky and dropping +down like lightning when he saw anybody +like Master Meadow Mouse stirring.</p> + +<p>Old Mr. Crow continued to journey +daily between the cornfield and the woods. +But Master Meadow Mouse paid little +heed to him. He believed Mr. Crow to +be harmless, so long as he didn't catch +small folk in the cornfield. The old gentleman +was very touchy about corn. He +flew into a rage when anybody but himself +ate even one kernel.</p> + +<p>Though Master Meadow Mouse would +have liked a taste of corn as much as anybody +else, he was careful to keep away +from the cornfield in the daytime. He +didn't wish to bring down Mr. Crow's +wrath upon his small head.</p> + +<p>"Never let Mr. Crow catch you taking +any corn!" Mrs. Meadow Mouse had told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +her son during one of the daily lessons +that she gave him. "If you must have +corn, wait until after sunset. Mr. Crow +goes to bed early."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 259px;"> +<img src="images/illus-1.jpg" width="259" height="400" alt="Master Meadow Mouse ran plump into old Mr. Crow" title="Master Meadow Mouse ran plump into old Mr. Crow" /> +<span class="caption">Master Meadow Mouse ran plump into old Mr. Crow</span> +</div> +<p>Now, it happened that just before haying +time Mrs. Meadow Mouse had stopped +giving her son lessons. She said that she +had told him everything she knew. She +had told him everything at least a hundred +times. And she declared that if he +hadn't learned what he needed to know, +he never would.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Meadow Mouse, however, had forgotten +one thing—one very important +thing. There was a little trick of old Mr. +Crow's that she had never mentioned to +her son.</p> + +<p>So it wasn't his fault that he was caught +unawares one day, soon after Farmer +Green cut the grass in the meadow.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse was tripping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +homewards one day, after a little excursion. +He was traveling fast, for he felt, +amidst the short stubble, as if all the world +were watching him. And he kept a sharp +eye cocked upwards at the sky, lest Henry +Hawk should surprise him. Besides, he +had heard the <i>boom</i> of a bittern that +morning. And the day before he had +seen a butcher-bird skimming low over the +meadow.</p> + +<p>Those two, he knew, were every bit as +dangerous as Henry Hawk.</p> + +<p>You see, Master Meadow Mouse had +learned to expect birds to descend upon +him from the air. It had never occurred +to him that a bird would lurk on the +ground, in wait for him. So he had a sudden +fright, almost at his doorway, when +he ran plump upon a big black person +standing behind a knoll.</p> + + +<p>It was old Mr. Crow. And Master<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +Meadow Mouse thought he had an odd +glitter in his snapping eyes.</p> + +<p>"I—I haven't been taking any corn," +Master Meadow Mouse stammered.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-6end.jpg" width="400" height="328" alt="Old Mr Crow" title="Old Mr Crow" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-7head.jpg" width="400" height="241" alt="7: Nothing but Air" title="7: Nothing but Air" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Old</span> Mr. Crow didn't say a single word +when Master Meadow Mouse met him face +to face in the meadow. But a wicked glitter +in Mr. Crow's eyes warned Master +Meadow Mouse that there was trouble +ahead for him.</div> + +<p>If the hole leading to his home hadn't +been close at hand there's no telling what +would have happened to him. Anyhow, +just as Mr. Crow lunged at him, with a +wild flapping of his broad wings, Master +Meadow Mouse slipped to one side and +whisked through his doorway.</p> + +<p>Old Mr. Crow coughed hoarsely.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What's your hurry?" he cried. +"I've been waiting around here for you +for a long while. Can't you spend a few +moments of your valuable time with me!"</p> + +<p>Now, it was true that the old gentleman +had been lingering in the neighborhood. +The corn wasn't quite ripe enough to suit +him. So he had decided to go a-mousing +that morning.</p> + +<p>His way of hunting, however, was not +like that of other birds. Mr. Crow chose +to do his hunting afoot. He was too wise +to waste any effort looking for mice when +the grass was high. But after haying he +had often gone a-mousing in years past. +And he had found the sport to be quite +worth while. Stalking about the close +cropped meadow he had surprised many +distant cousins of Master Meadow Mouse +who never returned home to tell the story +of their meetings with the black scamp.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +Maybe Mr. Crow was getting slow in his +old age. He had never come so near to +catching a Meadow Mouse before, only to +be disappointed. It was no wonder that +he felt peevish.</p> + +<p>At first Master Meadow Mouse did not +answer Mr. Crow when the old gentleman +called down the tunnel that led to the nest +beneath the sod. But soon Master +Meadow Mouse remembered that Mr. +Crow could get no more than his bill inside +the hole. And then Master Meadow +Mouse found his voice again.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to go above ground," he +said. "Can't you talk to me, where I +am?"</p> + +<p>"It's not easy to do that," Mr. Crow +grumbled. "I have to speak too loud; +and my voice is hoarse to-day."</p> + +<p>"Stick your bill into my tunnel as far +as it will go," Master Meadow Mouse sug<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>gested. +"Then you won't have to shout. +I could hear a whisper if you'd do as I +say."</p> + +<p>Old Mr. Crow thrust his bill down the +hole.</p> + +<p>"I don't like this," he croaked. "I +can't see you."</p> + +<p>"That's because you're shutting out all +the light," Master Meadow Mouse explained.</p> + +<p>"I doubt it," said Mr. Crow angrily. +"I believe you've drawn a curtain across +the other end of this tunnel. And I can't +talk to anybody through a curtain. I <i>refuse</i> +to injure my voice trying to talk with +anybody that won't give me a more +friendly welcome when I call on him."</p> + +<p>"Talk away!" Master Meadow Mouse +urged his caller. "There's nothing between +us to keep me from hearing you. +Nothing but a foot of air!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah!" Mr. Crow cried. "I <i>knew</i> you +had something in that tunnel. Remove +the air at once, sir, or I'll go away and +leave you."</p> + +<p>"If his bill wasn't so hard—if it was as +soft as the Kitten's nose—I'd bite it," +Master Meadow Mouse thought.</p> + +<p>And while he was thinking, all at once a +shaft of light trickled inside his house. +Old Mr. Crow had gone grumbling on his +way.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-7end.jpg" width="400" height="255" alt="Mouse and a Mandolin" title="Mouse and a Mandolin" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-8head.jpg" width="400" height="184" alt="8: Moses Mouse" title="8: Moses Mouse" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Master Meadow Mouse</span> felt ill at ease. +Now that the grass had been cut from the +meadow he began to think he didn't care +to live there any longer. After his adventure +with old Mr. Crow, Master Meadow +Mouse scarcely dared stray from his dooryard +in the daytime. Anybody, almost, +could see him as he crept through the stubble.</div> + +<p>At night he ventured further from +home. And once he went even as far as +the farmyard.</p> + +<p>To his surprise he found that the grass +in Farmer Green's yard was longer than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +he had ever seen it. Earlier in the summer, +when Master Meadow Mouse visited +that spot, he had been afraid to cross the +lawn because it was clipped so short. But +now he could creep through the thick +green carpet and nobody could see him, +unless a waving grass blade happened to +catch somebody's eye. Everybody at the +farmhouse had been too busy with haying +to spend any time running a lawn mower.</p> + +<p>Why not move to the farmyard? The +thought came into Master Meadow +Mouse's head. It seemed to him that the +farmyard would be a fine place to live. +There was grain scattered here and there, +where somebody had fed the hens. There +was the duck pond near-by, when he +wanted a swim.</p> + +<p>"I'll come!" Master Meadow Mouse decided. +"I'll come—if I can find a good +place for a nest."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> + +<p>Thereupon he began to look about for +a site for his new home. And it wasn't +long before he had found one that suited +him. When he saw the woodpile he +squeaked with delight.</p> + +<p>"The very place!" he cried. "I'll begin +to built my nest to-night."</p> + +<p>So he set to work. He carried dead +leaves and dried grass to the woodpile and +started to make a snug home for himself +in a space between the logs, well inside the +heap of wood. And he had just crept +from a chink and stood under the stars +when a tiny voice greeted him with a cry, +"What ho, stranger!"</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse looked around. +And there on a stick of wood just behind +him was a plump gray person. The newcomer +looked the least bit like Master +Meadow Mouse himself, except that his +tail was ever so much longer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm Moses Mouse and I live in +the farmhouse," said the gray gentleman.</p> + +<p>"I'm Master Meadow Mouse and I'm +going to live in this woodpile," said the +reddish-brown chap in reply.</p> + +<p>"That's good news," Moses Mouse remarked. +"But you must look out for +Miss Snooper," he added.</p> + +<p>"Who is she?" Master Meadow Mouse +asked his new friend.</p> + +<p>"Miss Snooper—" Moses Mouse explained—"Miss +Snooper is our name for +Miss Kitty Cat. She lives in the farmhouse. +And when she isn't indoors she's +usually prowling about the yard."</p> + +<p>To the great astonishment of Moses +Mouse, the short-tailed stranger seemed +in no wise startled by his news.</p> + +<p>"Huh!" Master Meadow Mouse exclaimed. +"If this Miss Snooper—as you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +call her—bothers me, I'll serve her as I +did one of her kittens."</p> + +<p>"What did you do to the kitten?" +Moses Mouse inquired with great interest.</p> + +<p>"I bit her nose," said Master Meadow +Mouse.</p> + +<p>Moses Mouse gazed at him with horror.</p> + +<p>"Don't try that on the old lady!" he +cried. "If you do, you'll be sorry."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-8end.jpg" width="400" height="266" alt="Moses and Meadow" title="Moses and Meadow" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-9head.jpg" width="400" height="215" alt="9: Miss Snooper" title="9: Miss Snooper" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Moses Mouse</span>, who lived in the farmhouse, +had warned Master Meadow Mouse. He +had warned him to look out for Miss +Snooper's nose.</div> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse did not pay any +great attention to his new friend's advice. +He was building himself a new home in +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Farmer's'">Farmer</ins> Green's woodpile. And he went +about his work as if there wasn't a cat +within a hundred miles.</p> + +<p>Then, one day, he caught a glimpse of +Miss Snooper. He peeped out from a +chink in the woodpile and saw her sitting +on a stick of wood. She was so near him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +that Master Meadow Mouse could have +leaped upon her back in one spring.</p> + +<p>But he didn't do that. He gazed at her +with round eyes, for Miss Snooper looked +very fierce, especially when she opened her +mouth and showed her sharp teeth as she +yawned. Master Meadow Mouse saw that +she was a quite different creature from +the awkward kitten whom he had bitten +on the nose earlier in the summer.</p> + +<p>"Goodness!" thought Master Meadow +Mouse, staring at Miss Snooper with great +awe. "Goodness! Her whiskers are +longer than mine!"</p> + +<p>And then he drew back very softly and +crept to his nest in the woodpile.</p> + +<p>That night Moses Mouse came to make +another call. And he brought his wife +with him, so that she might see the +stranger with the short tail who was going +to live in Farmer Green's woodpile.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I saw Miss Snooper to-day," Master +Meadow Mouse told them.</p> + +<p>"Did you bite her nose?" Mrs. Mouse +asked him eagerly; for her husband had +told her all about the newcomer.</p> + +<p>"No!" said Master Meadow Mouse. +"No! I was too busy, building my new +home, to stop and bite her."</p> + +<p>"Isn't he brave!" whispered Mrs. +Moses Mouse to her husband.</p> + +<p>From where they sat, on the top of the +woodpile, Master Meadow Mouse and his +callers caught sight of a dark shape that +moved stealthily towards them through +the shadows.</p> + +<p>"It's Miss Snooper herself!" Mrs. +Mouse cried. And quick as a wink she +dived down among the sticks of wood, +with her husband following close behind +her.</p> + +<p>"Probably Master Meadow Mouse will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +bite Miss Snooper's nose this time," she +said to Moses, when she had reached a safe +retreat.</p> + +<p>"He isn't biting it now," Moses Mouse +replied, "because he's crowding right behind +me."</p> + +<p>"Miss Snooper has come," Mrs. Mouse +said to Master Meadow Mouse. "Maybe +you didn't understand that it was she."</p> + +<p>"Let her come!" Master Meadow +Mouse squeaked.</p> + +<p>"Isn't he brave!" Mrs. Moses Mouse +murmured.</p> + +<p>"I'll bite her nose if she sticks it into +this crevice," Master Mouse declared.</p> + +<p>"Isn't he brave!" she breathed into her +husband's ear.</p> + +<p>"I'm not so sure of that," said Moses +Mouse in an undertone. "He <i>talks</i> a +good deal about nose-biting. I should +like to see him <i>do</i> it. I knew Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +Snooper was skulking around the yard to-night. +That's why I came to call on this +chap. I wanted to see whether he'd fight +or run."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Miss Snooper climbed all +over the woodpile. She could hear faint +squeaks somewhere. And she was almost +frantic because she couldn't squirm under +the wood and find whoever was talking.</p> + +<p>It was almost morning before Moses +Mouse and his wife dared to steal back to +the farmhouse. When they left the woodpile +Master Meadow Mouse left it too. +He had decided, during the night, that he +wouldn't live in the farmyard.</p> + +<p>"I've become very tired of this old +Cat," he told his companions—Mr. and +Mrs. Moses Mouse. "I shouldn't care to +stay where I had to see her often."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-9end.jpg" width="400" height="58" alt="Mouse and Mushrooms" title="Mouse and Mushrooms" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-10head.jpg" width="400" height="211" alt="10: A Handy Sign" title="10: A Handy Sign" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Hunting</span> played a great part in the life +of Master Meadow Mouse. Somebody or +other was always hunting him. And he +was always hunting for something to eat. +He spent a good deal of his time away +from home, looking for seeds and grain. +On the other hand, he spent a good deal of +his time in his house; for Master Meadow +Mouse liked to take naps—especially in +the daytime.</div> + +<p>After he started to live in Farmer +Green's woodpile, but moved away from +it before he had finished building his nest +there, Master Meadow Mouse settled near<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +the fence between the meadow and the +pasture. The mowing machine hadn't +cut the weeds and grass that grew close to +the fence. He found shelter there from +the sharp eyes of birds that would have +caught him had they been able to.</p> + +<p>This time Master Meadow Mouse didn't +live underground. He made a sort of little +hut for himself, which kept out the cold +in chilly weather, and shed the rain when +it didn't pour down too hard.</p> + +<p>It was a good home. But it had one +drawback. If anybody came along when +its owner was asleep in it—Well, Master +Meadow Mouse didn't like to think +about that. The little nest at the end of +the tunnel where he had once lived had +been far safer.</p> + +<p>"I know what I'll do!" he cried at last, +as a happy thought came to him. "I'll +hang a sign outside my door."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> + +<p>He set to work. And soon he had +printed a sign. On one side of this was +the notice, "Gone to Lunch. Back To-morrow." +And on the other side were +the words, "At Home. Don't Knock. +Walk In."</p> + +<p>"There!" said Master Meadow Mouse +as he stood off a few paces and looked at +his handiwork. "That ought to do the +trick."</p> + +<p>Then he hung the sign outside his door +and went into his house to enjoy a nap. +And the side of the sign that was turned +outward said, "Gone to Lunch. Back To-morrow."</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse slept late into +the afternoon. And towards sunset, +while he was still asleep, Tommy Fox +slipped through the pasture fence.</p> + +<p>"Hullo!" he murmured softly as his +eyes fell on Master Meadow Mouse's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +dwelling. "Here's a bit of luck. I smell +a Mouse. And he must be taking a nap +inside his house."</p> + +<p>Tommy Fox crept closer to the little +hut. Then all at once he straightened up +with a look of displeasure on his sharp +face. He had just noticed the sign.</p> + +<p>"He's away from home!" Tommy exclaimed. +"That's a pity. He can't have +been gone long. Maybe I can catch him +near-by."</p> + +<p>But he couldn't find Master Meadow +Mouse anywhere. He looked all around—except +inside the shelter where Master +Meadow Mouse was fast asleep.</p> + +<p>Tommy Fox came back and read the +sign once more.</p> + +<p>"Back To-morrow," he muttered. +"Very well! I'll come back here to-morrow. +For that's what the sign tells me to +do."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> + +<p>And the next day he returned. He +grinned from ear to ear as he read what +the sign said: "At Home. Don't Knock. +Walk In." Then he thrust his long, +sharp nose right through Master Meadow +Mouse's doorway.</p> + +<p>There was nobody there. And Tommy +Fox looked silly as anything.</p> + +<p>"Fooled!" he growled. "Fooled by a +Meadow Mouse! I hope nobody ever +finds it out."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-10end.jpg" width="400" height="242" alt="Gone to Lunch" title="Gone to Lunch" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-11head.jpg" width="400" height="212" alt="11: A Castle in the Air" title="11: A Castle in the Air" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">It</span> seemed as if Master Meadow Mouse +was always moving. Perhaps the pleasantest +move he ever made was when he +went to the cornfield to live. When autumn +came Farmer Green shocked the +corn. All over the field bundles of cornstalks +stood in rows, like soldiers. And +what suited Master Meadow Mouse especially +was the ripe ears in the shocks, which +Farmer Green had not yet gathered.</div> + +<p>For some weeks past Master Meadow +Mouse had been living in a rude shelter, +which he had built for himself near the +fence between the pasture and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +meadow. Though he had been quite comfortable +there during the hot weather, +there were days, now, when a chilly wind +swept through Pleasant Valley and made +him shiver slightly as he thought of the +frosts which his neighbors told him were +on the way.</p> + +<p>He had made up his mind to seek some +snugger home. But not until he saw what +Farmer Green was doing with the cornstalks +did Master Meadow Mouse decide +on his new dwelling.</p> + +<p>"What a fine idea of Farmer Green's!" +he cried, when he first looked upon the +shocked corn. "I never dreamed that he +had been raising corn to make homes for +our family." He changed his opinion of +Farmer Green. Master Meadow Mouse +had been much upset when Farmer Green +cut the grass in the meadow at haying +time. All the birds in the air could see<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +him whenever he crossed the bare field. +Now, however, he forgot his displeasure +in the joy that Farmer Green's latest +move gave him.</p> + +<p>That night Master Meadow Mouse +crept into the cornfield. The round, yellow +harvest moon shone down on the field, +bathing the shocks of corn in a flood of +light and making the pumpkins that lay +on every side look almost as golden as they +appeared under the midday sun.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse was surprised to +find that many of his cousins had had the +same happy thought about moving that +had come to him. He met dozens of the +big Meadow Mouse family that night. +And every one of them was intent on picking +out a shock of corn to live in.</p> + +<p>Luckily there were shocks enough for +all—and more. And no disputes arose. +Some wanted to settle near the fence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +Some preferred to live in the middle of +the field. Many decided to make their +new homes near Broad Brook, so they +could enjoy a swim now and then without +having to travel far to get to the water.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse was one of the +best swimmers. He found a huge shock +that stood near the bank of the brook. +Crawling through it, he discovered at least +two dozen ears of ripe corn there.</p> + +<p>"I won't look any further," he exclaimed. +"Here's food enough to last for +months, all stored for me and ready to be +eaten whenever I'm hungry."</p> + +<p>Then he set to work. And high in the +top of the shock he made himself a nest of +dry husks, which he stripped off some of +the ears.</p> + +<p>It was an easy matter to build that +home. Everything that he needed was +right at hand. And it was no time at all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +before Master Meadow Mouse had his +house in order. Then he was ready for a +nap. But first he made a hearty meal of +corn because—as he said—he always slept +better on a full stomach.</p> + +<p>As he settled himself at last in his new +quarters, just before he dozed off Master +Meadow Mouse murmured happily to +himself.</p> + +<p>"I never thought," he said, "that I'd +sleep in a castle in the air."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 471px;"> +<img src="images/illus-11end.jpg" width="471" height="327" alt="Mouse and Pumpkins" title="Mouse and Pumpkins" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-12head.jpg" width="400" height="217" alt="12: A Midnight Frolic" title="12: A Midnight Frolic" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Master Meadow Mouse</span> had always been +pudgy. Before he went to the cornfield +to live he had been fat enough. And after +he had spent two weeks in and out of his +new nest in the cornshock he was a sight +to see. His sides bulged. And he had a +look as if his skin weren't big enough for +him.</div> + +<p>Life had become very easy for Master +Meadow Mouse. He didn't even have to +leave home to get all the corn he could eat. +He simply crept out of his nest, and right +there in his cornshock he had two dozen +ears of ripe corn. He didn't need to set<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +foot to the ground, unless he wanted a +drink.</p> + +<p>Of course Master Meadow Mouse +wasn't content to stay at home morning, +noon and night. He scampered away +whenever he pleased. Sometimes he went +for a swim in Broad Brook. Sometimes +he visited his cousins, who dwelt in other +shocks in the cornfield. And every night +he joined the big Meadow Mouse family in +a frolic. They chased one another around +the pumpkins that strewed the ground, +dodged behind the shocked corn, or ran +along the rail fence.</p> + +<p>During the daytime Master Meadow +Mouse and his companions lay low. +When they went abroad they kept a close +watch for Mr. Crow. Late as it was, the +old gentleman still lingered in Pleasant +Valley. Although his cronies had started +on their yearly journey to the South, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +let it be known that he was expecting to +spend the winter in the North.</p> + +<p>"I've noticed signs," he had said, "that +tell me we're going to have a mild winter."</p> + +<p>Whenever Mr. Crow visited the cornfield, +the Meadow Mouse family hastened +to hide. They didn't try to go to their +own homes, but plunged inside the nearest +shocks of corn.</p> + +<p>Mr. Crow was far from stupid. He +knew what was going on right under his +nose—or his bill. Flapping towards the +cornfield from the woods he could see a +great scurrying of small, reddish-brown +persons. But when he settled down in the +field there was never a Meadow Mouse +anywhere in sight.</p> + +<p>"They're stealing corn!" the old gentleman +spluttered. "I'd stop them if I +could. But what can I do when they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +hide the moment they see me coming?"</p> + +<p>The old fellow pondered over the question.</p> + +<p>"Somebody," he said, "will have to tear +these shocks apart in order to catch the +Meadow Mouse people. And I don't +know anyone that could do it better than +Fatty Coon."</p> + +<p>Now, Mr. Crow knew where Fatty Coon +lived, in a hollow tree in Cedar Swamp. +And he actually started to fly over to the +Swamp and ask Fatty Coon to rid the +cornfield of the Meadow Mouse family.</p> + +<p>But on the way to Cedar Swamp Mr. +Crow happened to think of something. +He happened to think that Fatty Coon +had an enormous appetite and was very +fond of corn.</p> + +<p>Mr. Crow suddenly veered off his +straight course and alighted in a tree.</p> + +<p>"That will never do," he croaked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +"Fatty would eat more than all the +Meadow Mice in Pleasant Valley."</p> + +<p>Little did Mr. Crow know that Fatty +Coon was already planning to visit the +cornfield as soon as it grew dark.</p> + +<p>Nor did Master Meadow Mouse and his +cousins guess that they were to have an +unwelcome guest that night.</p> + +<p>As usual, after dark they poured out of +their castles in the air to enjoy their +nightly frolic. And they were having +what they called "high jinks" when the +word went around to hide.</p> + +<p>For somebody squeaked in a frightened +voice: "Fatty Coon is crawling through +the pasture fence!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/illus-12end.jpg" width="300" height="116" alt="Mouse and Corn" title="Mouse and Corn" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-13head.jpg" width="400" height="214" alt="13: A Moonlight Raid" title="13: A Moonlight Raid" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">The</span> Meadow Mouse party, in the cornfield, +vanished as if by magic. Not one of +the merrymakers lingered an instant after +hearing that Fatty Coon was entering the +field. And since Master Meadow Mouse +happened to be near the shock where he +lived, he ran up it in a twinkling and crept +inside it, to curl up in his nest and try to +catch forty winks.</div> + +<p>He felt safe enough. Hadn't old Mr. +Crow come to the cornfield every day? +<i>He</i> had never even poked into a shock to +disturb Master Meadow Mouse or one of +his cousins. Mr. Crow had eaten corn, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +be sure. But he hadn't bothered anybody. +And now Master Meadow Mouse +thought that as soon as Fatty Coon had +stuffed himself with corn he would stroll +back to Cedar Swamp.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse had fallen into +a doze when a sharp rustle waked him.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho!" he chuckled. "There's +Fatty Coon now! He's pulling an ear of +corn off my shock. Well, I don't believe +I'll miss it. There's corn enough in this +field for everybody."</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse tried to go to +sleep again.</p> + +<p>"I wish Fatty Coon wouldn't make so +much noise," said Master Meadow Mouse, +grumbling a little because he was very +drowsy and didn't like to be disturbed.</p> + +<p>"There!" he exclaimed after a few moments. +"He's gone, thank goodness!"</p> + +<p>But Fatty Coon had only carried his ear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +of corn to Broad Brook, to wash it before +he gobbled the kernels. He was very particular +to wash almost everything he ate. +But that was about the only way in which +he was fussy. There was nothing, almost, +that he wouldn't bolt greedily.</p> + +<p>After he had devoured the first ear of +corn, Fatty Coon went back and pulled +another off the same shock.</p> + +<p>Again he roused Master Meadow Mouse +from his slumbers.</p> + +<p>"He's at it again!" Master Meadow +Mouse complained. "I wish he'd go to +some other shock."</p> + +<p>The third time that Fatty Coon +wrenched an ear of corn from the shock +where Master Meadow Mouse lived he +paused and cocked an ear towards the top +of the shock.</p> + +<p>"Was that a squeak?" he asked himself. +And then he sniffed. "Ha!" he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +cried. "Do I smell a Meadow Mouse?"</p> + +<p>Fatty Coon was not mistaken. When +he rustled the dried cornstalks the third +time, Master Meadow Mouse had cried +right out in his sleep. And he waked up +just soon enough to hear Fatty Coon's +remarks.</p> + +<p>"Maybe you do smell a Meadow +Mouse," he replied under his breath, so +Fatty Coon couldn't hear him. "But it +won't do you any good; for I'm not coming +out of my castle until you go away."</p> + +<p>It soon appeared that Fatty Coon did +not intend to leave. For Fatty began to +pull at the cornstalks with his claws. Although +Farmer Green had bound the +stalks together tightly, one by one Fatty +tore them loose and let them fall upon the +ground.</p> + +<p>And inside the shock Master Meadow +Mouse suddenly started up in alarm.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-14head.jpg" width="400" height="200" alt="14: The Masked Bandit" title="14: The Masked Bandit" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">It</span> was no wonder that Master Meadow +Mouse was startled. He cowered inside +his nest in the top of the shock of corn. +The whole shock shook. There was a terrible +rustle of dry leaves as Fatty Coon +tore away stalk after stalk.</div> + +<p>"Old Mr. Crow never did this!" Master +Meadow Mouse stammered. "He never +disturbed my rest. But this awful Fatty +Coon means to catch me. And I don't +know what to do."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Fatty Coon was muttering +horribly to himself as he worked.</p> + +<p>"This fellow must be fat," he grunted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +as he wrenched at a stubborn stalk with +claws and teeth. "With all this corn to +feast on he must be in fine trim. Mm! +He ought to be just right to top off a good +meal of corn."</p> + +<p>"My goodness!" Master Meadow Mouse +gasped. "How annoying! He intends +to eat me!"</p> + +<p>For a few moments Master Meadow +Mouse wondered whether he ought to fight +or run. "I wish," he thought, "that I'd +brought my old sign with me when I +moved to this new home. If I had hung +it outside my door Fatty Coon wouldn't +have bothered me. When he read that +notice, 'Gone to lunch. Back To-morrow,' +he would have shuffled off about his +business." But idle thoughts and wishes +were of no use at a time like that. Master +Meadow Mouse soon realized that he must +act—and act quickly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Maybe I'll bite his nose," he said to +himself. "But I want to peep at him +first."</p> + +<p>So Master Meadow Mouse left his nest +and crept a short distance until he could +peer out from a chink between two cornstalks. +In the moonlight he had a fine +view of Fatty Coon. And as he stared at +the intruder Meadow Mouse shuddered.</p> + +<p>"No!" he exclaimed. "No! I never +could fight him. I wouldn't dare bite his +nose. He's far, far too big for me to +tackle."</p> + +<p>There was no denying that Fatty Coon +looked both huge and dangerous. Across +his face was a black mask which only +added to his horrid appearance. And +through the mask his eyes shone green and +greedy right into the frightened ones of +Master Meadow Mouse.</p> + +<p>One good look was enough for Master<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +Meadow Mouse. He drew back hurriedly. +Through his mind there flashed a saying +of his mother's that he had not thought +of for a long time: "He that fights and +runs away will live to fight another day."</p> + +<p>"I'll run first," Master Meadow Mouse +decided. "Then perhaps I shan't have to +fight at all."</p> + +<p>Then he stole out of the shock of corn, +on the opposite side. And when Fatty +Coon pawed his way through to the nest +he found it empty.</p> + +<p>He gave a wail of anger and dismay.</p> + +<p>"He's gone! The Meadow Mouse has +gone!" Fatty bawled. "And I'll warrant +he was a fat one, too. It's always the fattest +ones that get away. And nobody can +deny that this one was living high."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/illus-14end.jpg" width="300" height="58" alt="Mouse running" title="Mouse running" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-15head.jpg" width="400" height="195" alt="15: The Flood" title="15: The Flood" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'>"<span class="smcap">This</span> means another move for me," said +Master Meadow Mouse. Fatty Coon had +broken into the house in the shock of corn +where Master Meadow Mouse had been +living. And Master Meadow Mouse had +fled.</div> + +<p>Somehow he felt that a change of scene +would be good for him. Although he had +dwelt but a short time in the cornfield, he +had no longer any desire to stay there. +For Fatty Coon had given him a great +fright. There was no denying that.</p> + +<p>"It seems as if I were always moving," +Master Meadow Mouse mused. "It's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +lucky for me the world is wide. Thank +goodness there's plenty of places left +where I can go. I've tried the meadow, +Farmer Green's woodpile, the tangle beside +the pasture fence and the cornfield. +And now—now let me see! I believe I'll +settle along Black Creek, under the +bank."</p> + +<p>He was talking with Long Bill Wren, +who had a nest in a marshy spot near the +creek.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't make yourself a home under +the bank!" Long Bill cried. "The fall +rains will come soon. The creek is sure to +rise. And then where will you be?"</p> + +<p>"I'll be in the water, I suppose," Master +Meadow Mouse answered.</p> + +<p>"Correct!" said Long Bill Wren. +"And you want to avoid that. Maybe +you've noticed that my wife and I built +our nest off the ground. We fasten it to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +the reeds so we'll be dry, no matter if +there's a freshet in midsummer."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" Master Meadow Mouse exclaimed +with a smile. "I see you don't +like water as much as I do. The fall rains +won't trouble me. If the creek rises as +high as my house it will be all the more +fun."</p> + +<p>Long Bill Wren gave him an odd look.</p> + +<p>"You're a queer one," he remarked. +"Anyhow, you can't say I didn't warn +you. If there's a flood when the fall rains +come, and you get drowned out, you can't +say it's my fault."</p> + +<p>"Certainly not!" cried Master Meadow +Mouse. "And I thank you for your kind +advice. But I'm not going to be drowned +out. I can swim."</p> + +<p>Long Bill Wren shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I hope you'll escape," he said. "I +shall not be here to know whether you do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +or not. For we're starting for the South +to-morrow. But I hope to find you safe +and sound next May, when I return." +And then he went home, to tell his wife +that Master Meadow Mouse was a very +daring young fellow.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse built himself a +house under the bank of Black Creek. +And later the rain fell heavily for several +days and nights, just as Long Bill Wren +had expected. The creek rose fast. Yet +Master Meadow Mouse didn't worry. +When the water lapped at his doorway he +only laughed. And when it caught at his +house and bore it downstream Master +Meadow Mouse held his fat sides and +roared.</p> + +<p>The flood brought much rubbish with it. +But Master Meadow Mouse saw nothing +that took his fancy until at last a floating +board caught his eye.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse swam out to it +and scrambled upon it.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" he squeaked as the board +carried him along with the current. +"This is fine! I've got a raft. And I'll +go a-traveling."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-15end.jpg" width="400" height="378" alt="Mouse on a raft" title="Mouse on a raft" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-16head.jpg" width="400" height="218" alt="16: On the Raft" title="16: On the Raft" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">A board</span> was floating along on the swollen +waters of Black Creek. On it sat Master +Meadow Mouse. He was very happy. +He was having his first ride, of any sort.</div> + +<p>"This raft—" he said to himself +proudly—"this raft belongs to me. I'll +be a traveler. I'll see the world—at least +as far as the big willow at the lower end +of the meadow!"</p> + +<p>He scarcely cared to go beyond the big +willow. Beyond it lay another farm. +And Master Meadow Mouse had never +been off Farmer Green's place in his +whole life. He feared that he might not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +be able to find his way back, if he ventured +too far from home.</p> + +<p>Soon he spied a friend on the bank of +the creek. Master Meadow Mouse cried, +"Good-by!" and waved a paw at him.</p> + +<p>The person on the bank was one of his +many cousins. And when he caught sight +of Master Meadow Mouse he stared hard +for a few moments. Then he shouted, +"Don't jump! I'll rescue you." He +was already running to the water's edge +when Master Meadow Mouse stopped +him.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to be rescued," he called. +"I'm seeing the world."</p> + +<p>His cousin hurried along the bank, still +watching the strange sight.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me—" he told Master +Meadow Mouse—"it seems to me that the +world is seeing you. Where would you +hide if Henry Hawk discovered you?"</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 258px;"> +<img src="images/illus-2.jpg" width="258" height="400" alt="Master Meadow Mouse drifted toward Mr. Heron" title="Master Meadow Mouse drifted toward Mr. Heron" /> +<span class="caption">Master Meadow Mouse drifted toward Mr. Heron</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse did not answer. +To tell the truth, the question set him to +thinking. He had to admit that it might +be a bit awkward to find any cover in case +somebody or other made a sudden swoop +at him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well!" he said at last. "It can't +be helped. There's always <i>some</i> danger +in traveling—so I've heard."</p> + +<p>His cousin on the bank had stopped +running and now stood still and watched +him anxiously until the raft had borne +Master Meadow Mouse out of sight around +a bend.</p> + +<p>As the flood swung the craft toward the +further side of the creek Master Meadow +Mouse beheld a long-legged fisherman +standing in the water. Not only did the +fisherman have long legs. He had a long +bill as well. And he was standing like a +statue, waiting for a fish to swim past him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +A fish, or a frog, or a mouse! He didn't +care which.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse knew him at +once. He was Mr. Great Blue Heron—or +plain "G. B." as he preferred to be +called. While Master Meadow Mouse +gazed at him in horror Mr. Heron swiftly +thrust his spearlike bill into the water. +Even his head went out of sight for a +moment.</p> + +<p>Mr. Heron did not do that in order to +cool his head. Ah, no! When he pulled +his bill out of the creek a pickerel came +with it. And the pickerel vanished very +quickly down Mr. Heron's long neck.</p> + +<p>It was not a nice sight for Master +Meadow Mouse to see, especially when he +was on a pleasure trip. Besides, he noticed +with dismay that his raft was bearing +him straight towards the fisherman.</p> + +<p>"If I only had some oars, or a rudder,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +I could steer this old raft away from him," +Master Meadow Mouse thought. But he +had nothing of the sort.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse groaned.</p> + +<p>"I wish I'd never gone a-traveling!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-16end.jpg" width="400" height="391" alt="Mr. Heron" title="Mr. Heron" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-17head.jpg" width="400" height="221" alt="17: A Lucky Escape" title="17: A Lucky Escape" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Nearer</span> and nearer the board, with Master +Meadow Mouse upon it, drifted around +the bend of the creek toward Mr. Great +Blue Heron. And at last Mr. Heron noticed +it. And he noticed its passenger, +too.</div> + +<p>"Ahem!" he said softly to himself. +Except for swallowing once or twice, he +never made a move, but stood there in the +water and waited. He waited for Master +Meadow Mouse's raft to drift closer; for +it was plain to him—as to Master Meadow +Mouse—that the current of Black Creek +was slowly bearing the board straight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +down upon him. "When it gets near +enough I'll just reach out and pluck that +fellow off," Mr. Heron promised himself +with a sort of silent chuckle.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Master Meadow Mouse was +having a very bad quarter of an hour. +Slowly though his craft moved, to him it +seemed to travel with lightning speed.</p> + +<p>"I'll pass him soon," Master Meadow +Mouse thought. "If I crouch down and +make myself as small as possible perhaps +he won't see me."</p> + +<p>So he hugged the board tight. But the +closer he came to Mr. Heron the bigger +and fiercer that gentleman looked.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Master Meadow Mouse's +courage oozed out through his toes. He +couldn't stay on his raft another second. +Springing to his feet, he scurried to the +edge of the board and slipped off it into +the water.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<p>At his first move Mr. Heron moved too. +He lifted his great wings and flapped +them, tucking his legs under his body at +the same time. A half dozen flaps carried +him abreast of the floating board. +And there Mr. Heron let his long legs +down into the water until he stood again +upon the bottom of the creek. He +scanned the water eagerly, even plunging +his head into it and looking all around. +But he couldn't see Master Meadow +Mouse anywhere.</p> + +<p>"This is queer," he mumbled. "I +knew those fellows were good swimmers. +But I didn't think this one could get away +from me so quickly."</p> + +<p>Mr. Great Blue Heron waded about the +creek for some time, searching everywhere—or +almost everywhere. And +while he was searching, the deserted raft +swung off down the creek, hung for a few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +moments at the edge of the channel, and +then drifted lazily toward shore, where it +lodged at last among the reeds.</p> + +<p>The disappointed fisherman returned +to his fishing. But it seemed as if his luck +had turned. Not another fish came his +way. And being too wise to expect that +another Meadow Mouse would come traveling +down the creek on a raft, Mr. Great +Blue Heron at last forsook his sport and +sailed away through the air towards the +lake on the other side of Blue Mountain.</p> + +<p>He hadn't been gone a great while when +Master Meadow Mouse might have been +seen picking his way along the bank. He +was journeying upstream, on his way +home.</p> + +<p>"It was lucky for me—" he explained +to his cousin, whom he met later—"it was +lucky for me that I could swim under +water. Otherwise I shouldn't have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +able to hide beneath the board and stay +there until it swung into the rushes."</p> + +<p>"You had a narrow escape," his cousin +told him. "Don't say that I didn't warn +you!"</p> + +<p>That cousin was one of those persons +that always exclaim, "I told you so!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/illus-17end.jpg" width="200" height="148" alt="Mr Heron flying" title="Mr Heron flying" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-18head.jpg" width="400" height="238" alt="18: Under the Snow" title="18: Under the Snow" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Winter</span> had come. The snow lay deep +over Pleasant Valley. But Master +Meadow Mouse didn't object to that. On +the contrary, he had welcomed the snow. +Even Johnnie Green, peeping out of his +chamber window at the first snowfall of +the season, hadn't been any happier over +it than Master Meadow Mouse was. To +Johnnie Green the snow meant fun. To +Master Meadow Mouse it meant fun and +something more.</div> + +<p>At last he could scamper about the +meadow without being seen by everybody. +For he set to work at once to make tunnels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +beneath the snow. They ran in every +direction from his house. And he was +forever pushing them further and further.</p> + +<p>Through those tunnels Master Meadow +Mouse could look for seeds and grain in +the stubble. And while he was rambling +along his network of halls he didn't have +to worry about anybody's making trouble +for him, unless it was Peter Mink, perhaps, +or Grumpy Weasel.</p> + +<p>Of course Master Meadow Mouse didn't +stay under the snow all the time. Now +and then he liked to climb up into the +open air. And he made many shafts that +led to the world above.</p> + +<p>Although most of the birds had gone +South to spend the winter, there were still +some that Master Meadow Mouse had to +shun. Old Mr. Crow was spending the +winter on the farm. And there were +Solomon Owl and his cousin Simon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +Screecher, who hunted over the meadow +nightly. And at dusk sometimes a fierce +hawk known as "Rough-leg" would beat +his way back and forth across the snow +covered stretches in the hope of catching +one of the Meadow Mouse family unawares.</p> + +<p>In spite of such unpleasant neighbors, +the big Meadow Mouse family managed to +have many a gay frolic under the stars on +crisp winter nights. Sometimes Johnnie +Green, wandering over the fields on snow-shoes +by day, noticed a lacy tracery on +the snow. It was the tracks of the tiny +toes of Master Meadow Mouse and his +dozens of cousins. At first Johnnie almost +thought that he had stumbled upon +the scene of a revel of fairy mice. He did +not know then that the Meadow Mouse +family had a village of their own right +under his feet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Solomon Owl and Simon Screecher +and old Rough-leg, the hawk, knew all +about the habits of the villagers. In fact +they sometimes complained about the way +the Meadow Mouse family had built their +tunnels. They agreed that there were too +many holes leading down to the village +streets. It gave the Meadow Mouse people +too many openings into which to dive +in case of a sudden surprise when they +were having a moonlight party.</p> + +<p>"If they ever invited me to one of their +affairs I wouldn't care what they did," +Solomon Owl remarked one evening to his +whistling cousin, Simon Screecher. "If +they'd welcome me just once to one of +their dances I'd be satisfied."</p> + +<p>"It's plain that they don't like you," +his cousin remarked.</p> + +<p>"Nor you, either!" Solomon Owl +boomed. And then all at once he burst<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +forth with a peal of ghostly laughter. +<i>"Wha, wha, whoo-ah!</i>"</p> + +<p>Now, Master Meadow Mouse had just +crept out of one of his doorways and was +looking up at the stars when that shivery +sound came rolling out of the woods. +When he heard it he turned quickly and +hurried back where he came from.</p> + +<p>"There won't be any fun to-night," he +grumbled.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-18end.jpg" width="400" height="197" alt="Owl and Mouse" title="Owl and Mouse" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-19head.jpg" width="400" height="210" alt="19: Owl Friends" title="19: Owl Friends" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'>"<span class="smcap">There's</span> no sense in wasting our time +here," said Solomon Owl to his small +cousin, Simon Screecher. "It's a fine +night. The Mice will all be out sooner +or later. Let's go over and sit in that old +oak on the edge of the meadow!"</div> + +<p>Simon Screecher was more than willing. +And they had no sooner settled +themselves among the bare branches of the +oak when Simon started to amuse himself +by giving his well-known quavering +whistle.</p> + +<p>Solomon Owl stopped him quickly.</p> + +<p>"Don't do that!" he said sharply. "Do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +you want to scare the Mice?" Simon +Screecher cut his whistle off right in the +middle of it.</p> + +<p>"I forgot," he murmured. "But I +don't believe my whistling would do any +harm. I don't think there are many Mice +left on Farmer Green's place. It's my +opinion that they've moved away—most +of them. Or maybe old Rough-leg, the +Hawk, has caught more than his share. +Anyhow, it's so long since I ate a Meadow +Mouse that I've almost forgotten what +they're like."</p> + +<p>Solomon Owl made no reply. He was +a person of few words. If anybody +asked his opinion he was ready to give +it. But he seldom gave any unsought +advice.</p> + +<p>"I've about made up my mind," said +Simon Screecher, "that I'd move to some +other neighborhood. If I knew where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +there was good mousing I'd move to-morrow."</p> + +<p>While he was speaking, Solomon Owl +started ever so slightly. And he cocked +his head on one side, as if he were listening +for something.</p> + +<p>At that moment his cousin began to +whistle again.</p> + +<p>"Be quiet!" Solomon Owl thundered. +"If I'm not mistaken I heard a squeak. +But no Meadow Mouse will ever venture +out of doors if you're going to whistle."</p> + +<p>"I forgot," said Simon Screecher once +more. "I'm so used to whistling that I +don't know when I'm doing it."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 260px;"> +<img src="images/illus-3.jpg" width="260" height="400" alt="Solomon Owl and Simon Screecher wait for Master Meadow Mouse" title="olomon Owl and Simon Screecher wait for Master Meadow Mouse" /> +<span class="caption">Solomon Owl and Simon Screecher wait for Master Meadow Mouse</span> +</div> + +<p>"That's the reason why you can't catch +more Mice," Solomon Owl snapped; for +he was angry. "There are dozens of +Meadow Mice under the snow. But of +course you can't surprise them if you tell +them you're coming. You might as well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +send them a telegram, saying that you'll +be on hand to meet them at eight <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>"</p> + +<p>Simon Screecher was silenced for the +time being.</p> + +<p>And it wasn't long before Solomon Owl +gave another start.</p> + +<p>"There's that squeak again!" he whispered. +"I believe it is getting nearer, +too."</p> + +<p>Now, Master Meadow Mouse had a tunnel +that led right beneath the tree where +the two cousins were sitting. And he +had strolled that way after scurrying +under the snow when he heard Solomon +Owl laughing in the woods earlier in the +evening.</p> + +<p>It was he that Solomon heard. It was +he that stuck his head out of a hole in the +snow and peeped up at the star-sprinkled +sky.</p> + +<p>Solomon Owl saw him. And he dived<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +out of the old oak straight at Master +Meadow Mouse.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse pulled his head +in just in time.</p> + +<p>"I didn't suppose that chap would be +here as soon as this," he gasped. "He +must have hurried over here from the +woods. He must be very hungry."</p> + +<p>As Solomon Owl returned to the old +oak his cousin Simon Screecher laughed +somewhat unpleasantly.</p> + +<p>"Missed him—didn't you?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Yes!"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you grab him out of the +snow?" Simon asked. "What are your +claws for? What's your beak for?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't dig him out," Solomon Owl +replied. "The snow is three feet deep. +And it has seven different crusts, one +under another."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This is a hard winter," said Simon +Screecher. "I wish I'd gone South last +fall. I wonder how the mousing is down +there."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-19end.jpg" width="400" height="227" alt="Owl flying" title="Owl flying" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-20head.jpg" width="400" height="218" alt="20: Eating a Tree" title="20: Eating a Tree" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">As Simon Screecher</span> remarked to his +cousin, Solomon Owl, it was a hard winter. +The snow was deep. The days were cold. +And the nights were colder. And, worst +of all, food became scarce. It seemed as +if there wasn't anything to eat anywhere +except at the farm buildings, which +Farmer Green had stuffed full of hay and +grain during the summer and autumn. +Many of the forest folk stole down from +Blue Mountain after nightfall and visited +the farmyard in the hope of getting a bite +of something or other.</div> + +<p>Even Master Meadow Mouse began to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +find it harder and harder to get enough +seeds under the snow to satisfy his hunger. +He had stored away a stock of food. +But it hadn't been big enough. And that +was a great mistake. Master Meadow +Mouse promised himself that he would +not repeat it another time. Unfortunately, +all the promises in the world +wouldn't give him a square meal when he +needed one.</p> + +<p>At last he went to one of his cousins +who had already spent one winter in the +meadow.</p> + +<p>"This is my first winter," Master +Meadow Mouse explained. "I'm running +short of food. And I wish you'd +tell me what to do in such a case."</p> + +<p>"That's easy," his cousin answered. +"Get more!" And then he hurried away, +for he had important business to attend to.</p> + +<p>Poor Master Meadow Mouse ran after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +him. It was hard to follow his cousin +through the winding galleries beneath the +snow. Several times Master Meadow +Mouse took the wrong turn and had to +retrace his steps. But at last he found +his busy cousin again.</p> + +<p>"You advised me to get more food," +said Master Meadow Mouse. "But you +didn't tell me where to get it."</p> + +<p>"In the orchard!" his cousin cried. +And then he hurried away again.</p> + +<p>"I wish he'd wait a minute," Master +Meadow Mouse grumbled as he tore after +his cousin once more. "I don't feel like +running. I haven't had a hearty meal for +days."</p> + +<p>The cousin seemed surprised when +Master Meadow Mouse overtook him.</p> + +<p>"What!" that busy gentleman exclaimed. +"Have you been to the orchard +and back so soon?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No!" said Master Meadow Mouse. +"I've been chasing you. I want you to +tell me what I'll find to eat when I go to +the orchard."</p> + +<p>"That's easy," his cousin replied. +"Trees!" Having said those three words +he dashed off again even faster than before.</p> + +<p>"Trees!" Master Meadow Mouse +echoed. "I can't eat trees. I've never +eaten a tree in all my life. There must +be something that my cousin forgot to +explain. So I suppose I'll have to run +after him again and ask him what he +meant."</p> + +<p>The fourth time that Master Meadow +Mouse found his cousin he took no +chances. He caught his cousin by his tail +and held on firmly.</p> + +<p>"You're not going to get away from +me till I've found out what I want to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +know," he declared. "How can I eat a +tree?" Master Meadow Mouse demanded.</p> + +<p>"You can't!" his cousin replied, struggling +desperately to free himself, for he +was too busy to stop long.</p> + +<p>"Then explain what you mean!" Master +Meadow Mouse cried.</p> + +<p>"Eat the bark!" his cousin answered.</p> + +<p>Then—and not till then—did Master +Meadow Mouse let him go.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse chased his +cousin no more, but hurried away to +Farmer Green's orchard, where he gnawed +a ring all the way around one of the young +fruit trees, at the top of the snow. It was +the first big meal he had enjoyed for +weeks. And he went home feeling that +the winter was not so hard as he had +thought, after all.</p> + +<p>But Farmer Green didn't agree with +him. When he happened to go into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +orchard one day, later, and saw tree after +tree ruined, he was very, very much displeased.</p> + +<p>"I ought to have put wire netting +around those young trees," he told the +hired man. "This is what comes of a +hard winter."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-20end.jpg" width="400" height="239" alt="Mouse and the tree" title="Mouse and the tree" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-21head.jpg" width="400" height="226" alt="21: A Cold Dip" title="21: A Cold Dip" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">In</span> one way Peter Mink was like Master +Meadow Mouse. He enjoyed swimming. +And he spent a great deal of his time along +the streams that threaded their way +through Pleasant Valley. Sometimes +Peter dawdled on the banks of Swift +River. Sometimes he lingered for days +in the neighborhood of Black Creek. +Nor did he disdain so small a stream as +the brook that crossed the meadow. It +was deep enough for a swim. And he +knew that muskrats lived under its banks. +While as for meadow mice—well, Peter +Mink had surprised many a one swim<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>ming +in the brook. If it hadn't been for +the meadow mice perhaps he wouldn't +have visited the brook so often.</div> + +<p>Even in winter Master Meadow Mouse +just <i>had</i> to have his cold dip now and +then. So he ran one of his many snow +tunnels to the brook, making a little opening +that led under the ice, where the water +had fallen away and left a cavern. Just +because there was skating for Johnnie +Green on top of the brook it mustn't be +supposed that Master Meadow Mouse +wasn't going to have a swim when he +wanted one.</p> + +<p>When Peter Mink wandered along a +stream in winter he preferred to travel +under the ice, rather than walk upon the +upper side of it. It made little difference +to him whether there was a dry strip along +the edge of the stream, where he could +steal silently along without wetting his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +feet. When he found no place to walk, +he swam.</p> + +<p>Now, Master Meadow Mouse was well +aware of this trick of Peter Mink's—this +trick of lurking beneath the ice of river, +creek and brook. But Master Meadow +Mouse <i>would</i> have his cold dip now and +then despite Peter Mink and his prowling +ways.</p> + +<p>To be sure, Master Meadow Mouse tried +to be careful. Before he crept from the +end of his tunnel, he stuck his head out +and looked up and down and all around. +He peeped under the bank of the brook. +He even stared into the water. And +then—if he saw nobody that was fiercer +than Paddy Muskrat—only then would he +venture to skip to the water's edge and +plunge in.</p> + +<p>To tell the truth, Master Meadow +Mouse always felt safer when one of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +Muskrat family happened to be taking a +swim at the same time. For the Muskrats +all had a warning signal that told +everybody when there was danger. When +one of them caught sight of Peter Mink +he never failed—if he was in the water—to +give a loud slap upon the surface with +his tail.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse always had one +ear that was listening for that slap. And +when it sounded he never waited an instant, +but darted into his tunnel without +even stopping to shake the water off his +coat. He said that he could dry his coat +after he reached home; while if he stopped +to dry it at the edge of the brook perhaps +he'd never get home at all.</p> + +<p>You might think that now and then he +would have said to himself, "Oh, I won't +bother to look for Peter Mink to-day. He +must be miles away. I'll step right out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +of my tunnel and have my swim without +taking a look-see first." But Master +Meadow Mouse was never so lazy as that. +And the day came at last when it was well +worth his while to take the little extra +trouble of peeping out before he had his +swim.</p> + +<p>For Master Meadow Mouse caught a +glimpse of a snakelike head that darted +out from under the bank of the brook and +darted back again, out of sight. He +knew that that queer head belonged to +Peter Mink, and to nobody else.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-21end.jpg" width="400" height="205" alt="Mouse diving" title="Mouse diving" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-22head.jpg" width="400" height="214" alt="22: Fishing for Mice" title="22: Fishing for Mice" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Master Meadow Mouse</span> peeped out of the +end of his tunnel and gave a faint squeak. +As he watched, he saw Peter Mink's head, +on its long neck, flash out from beneath +the overhanging bank of the brook.</div> + +<p>"What are you doing up there?" Master +Meadow Mouse called.</p> + +<p>"Fishing!" said Peter Mink promptly.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you a long way from the +water?" Master Meadow Mouse inquired.</p> + +<p>"With a pole, one doesn't need to stand +right at the water's edge," said Peter +Mink.</p> + +<p>"But you haven't a pole," Master<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +Meadow Mouse pointed out. "At least, +I can't see that you have one."</p> + +<p>Peter was greatly surprised—or seemed +to be.</p> + +<p>"I declare!" he said. "I forgot to +bring my pole with me. And if you +hadn't reminded me of it I shouldn't have +known what was the trouble. I was wondering +why I didn't get any bites." As +he spoke he slid down the lower part of +the bank and stretched himself like a cat. +But all the time he was looking at Master +Meadow Mouse out of the corner of his +eye. "What are <i>you</i> doing here?" +Peter Mink asked pleasantly.</p> + +<p>"I came to take a swim," Master +Meadow Mouse explained.</p> + +<p>"Have you had it?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet!" Master Meadow Mouse told +him. "And I believe I'll wait till to-morrow."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The water's fine to-day," said Peter +Mink. "I've been in and out of it forty +times."</p> + +<p>But Master Meadow Mouse wasn't to +be persuaded so easily.</p> + +<p>"I might spoil your fishing if I went +in now," he remarked.</p> + +<p>"I don't care if you do," said Peter +Mink. "The pleasure of seeing you enjoy +a swim would more than repay me for the +loss of the biggest fish in this brook."</p> + +<p>Now, such speeches sounded very +strange, coming from the mouth of a surly +rascal like Peter Mink, who was never +known to do anybody a good turn. Master +Meadow Mouse pondered over this last +statement. There seemed to be a catch in +it somewhere. And he decided, finally, +that he had discovered it.</p> + +<p>"I didn't know there were any fish in +this brook worth catching," he piped.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +"They say there were trout here once. +But now there's nothing bigger than a +minnow."</p> + +<p>Peter Mink nodded. "That's the +truth," he said. "If this brook has a fish +that's as meaty as you are, I've never seen +him."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" cried Master Meadow Mouse. +"You'd far rather catch me than catch a +fish in this pool."</p> + +<p>Peter Mink grinned at him brazenly.</p> + +<p>"I won't deny it," he replied.</p> + +<p>"But you tried to deceive me," Master +Meadow Mouse told him. "You said—when +I asked you what you were doing +here—you said that you were fishing."</p> + +<p>"So I was!" Peter Mink exclaimed with +a horrid chuckle. "I was fishing for +mice. And if you'd been a little less careful +I'd have caught one, too."</p> + +<p>"Good day!" said Master Meadow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +Mouse. "Good day and good-by!"</p> + +<p>"Don't say good-by!" Peter Mink corrected. +"Say, 'Till we meet again!'"</p> + +<p>But Master Meadow Mouse had already +pulled his head out of sight and vanished +inside his tunnel.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-22end.jpg" width="400" height="263" alt="Mouse fishing" title="Mouse fishing" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-23head.jpg" width="400" height="235" alt="23: Moving Day" title="23: Moving Day" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Master Meadow Mouse</span> had a great-uncle +who was known as Uncle Billy. He was +the oldest of all the members of the +Meadow Mouse family that lived under +the snow near the brook. Hobbling along +through one of the tunnels beneath the +seven crusts of snow he happened to meet +Master Meadow Mouse as he was returning +from his talk with Peter Mink.</div> + +<p>"I just saw Peter Mink at the brook!" +Master Meadow Mouse called.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" Uncle Billy snorted. "The +question is, did he see you?"</p> + +<p>"He did," Master Meadow Mouse an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>swered +with no little pride, for he felt +quite important. "He not only saw me. +He talked with me."</p> + +<p>"Ha!" Uncle Billy snorted again. +"Then this is moving day."</p> + +<p>"Why, it's not the first of May, is it?" +Master Meadow Mouse cried.</p> + +<p>"Hardly!" said Uncle Billy, with +something like a sniff. "It's not Ground +Hog Day yet; and that's only the second +of February."</p> + +<p>"Then why should anybody move, right +in the middle of winter?" Master Meadow +Mouse wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Because—" Uncle Billy declared +hotly—"because somebody has gone and +let Peter Mink know where we're spending +the winter. And it's not safe for us +to stay here any longer."</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse couldn't help +feeling guilty. Still, he hoped he hadn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +made as great a mistake as Uncle Billy +would have him believe.</p> + +<p>"I've heard," he ventured, "that Peter +Mink can squeeze through any hole that's +big enough for his head. But surely he +couldn't get even his flat head into one of +our passages."</p> + +<p>"He can burrow in the snow!" Uncle +Billy snapped. "He can and he will. +He'll come sniffing and listening all +around here. And when he finds a likely +spot to dig, down he'll go through drifts +and crusts until he reaches the stubble." +Uncle Billy shook his head and drew a +long breath. "Young man," he said, +"you've got us into a peck of trouble. +This whole village has to move. Don't +let it happen again!"</p> + +<p>By that time others of the villagers had +gathered round and heard the news. Of +course the news spread fast. And in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +surprisingly short while the Meadow +Mouse family was on its way to the mill +pond.</p> + +<p>Everybody set to work—everybody except +Uncle Billy Meadow Mouse. He was +busy telling all the rest what to do, though +he didn't help half as much as he thought +he did.</p> + +<p>But every one was polite to him, for +he was the oldest Meadow Mouse on the +farm.</p> + +<p>It wasn't long before they had everything +snug again. And as for Master +Meadow Mouse, he was actually glad that +he had made the whole village move. +For Paddy Muskrat lived in the mill +pond. He spent all his time there when +he wasn't taking excursions up the brook. +And Master Meadow Mouse found him +the best of company.</p> + +<p>Especially did Master Meadow Mouse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +like to hear Paddy Muskrat slap his tail +upon the water, when he gave the danger +signal.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 387px;"> +<img src="images/illus-23end.jpg" width="387" height="400" alt="Mouse moving" title="Mouse moving" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-24head.jpg" width="400" height="198" alt="24: Master or Mister?" title="24: Master or Mister?" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Living</span>, as he did, near the mill pond, +Master Meadow Mouse saw a great deal +of Paddy Muskrat. They had a number +of tastes in common. They both liked +lily bulbs. They both enjoyed swimming. +They both disliked Peter Mink. They +were bound to become great cronies—if +for no other reason than the last.</div> + +<p>By spring Paddy Muskrat knew Master +Meadow Mouse well enough to ask him +a very intimate question.</p> + +<p>"Why does everybody call you 'Master'?" +he inquired one day.</p> + +<p>Master Meadow Mouse looked at him in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +a puzzled fashion for a moment or two.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," he answered. "I +don't know why, unless it's because they +<i>always have</i> called me that. Don't you +think it's a good name?" he asked Paddy +Muskrat a bit anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" Paddy assured him. +"There's no doubt that it's a good enough +name. But it's one that's given to a +youngster—to a mere child."</p> + +<p>"I'm not a youngster!" Master Meadow +Mouse cried. "Nobody can call me +<i>young</i>. I'm almost a year old!"</p> + +<p>"I thought so," said Paddy Muskrat, +as if he knew he couldn't have been mistaken. +"You're grown up. And yet +they still call you 'Master' Meadow +Mouse. If I were you I'd get folks to +change that."</p> + +<p>It was plain that Master Meadow Mouse +agreed with him in every way. He had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +already made up his mind that he wouldn't +answer to the name of 'Master' Meadow +Mouse any longer. And he told Paddy +Muskrat as much.</p> + +<p>"If they want me to answer after this, +they'll have to call me something else," he +declared. "Now, what would you suggest?"</p> + +<p>Paddy Muskrat said he needed time to +think the matter over. And he thought +that he'd like to consult his wife, who +always had an opinion.</p> + +<p>"Wait here till I come back!" he told +Master Meadow Mouse. And, diving +into the water, he swam home. He was +back in a few minutes, with a broad smile +upon his face. "I've thought of the very +thing!" he exclaimed. "Or, at least, my +wife has. She says, 'Call him "Mister," +of course'!"</p> + +<p>"That's fine!" cried Master Meadow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +Mouse. "I'm sure I couldn't have +thought of that if I'd tried all summer. +And now," he added, "I must go and tell +everybody about this sudden change."</p> + +<p>So he hurried home. And, calling +everybody around him, he explained that +he was a year old, and that he had successfully +dodged Miss Kitty Cat, Tommy +Fox, Solomon Owl, Ferdinand Frog, +Peter Mink, Old Mr. Crow and goodness +only knew how many other dangerous +folk.</p> + +<p>"I'm grown up now," he told his hearers. +"From this time on I expect everybody +to call me <i>Mister</i> Meadow Mouse."</p> + +<p>And everybody said that a new name +was no more than he deserved. They all +approved his choice.</p> + +<p>No! There was just one among all the +company that was opposed to the change. +He snorted and started to say something<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +disagreeable. And for once everybody +told Uncle Billy (for it was he!) to be +quiet.</p> + +<p>And that was the end of Master Meadow +Mouse.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus-the-end.jpg" width="400" height="293" alt="THE END" title="THE END" /> +</div> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 653px;"> +<img src="images/illus-endpaper.jpg" width="653" height="400" alt="Endpapers" title="Endpapers" /> +</div> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3> + +<p>The only correction made is indicated by a dotted lines under the word. Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p></div> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse, by +Arthur Scott Bailey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF MASTER MEADOW MOUSE *** + +***** This file should be named 24872-h.htm or 24872-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/8/7/24872/ + +Produced by Joe Longo, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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