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+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse, by Arthur Scott Bailey.
+    </title>
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+<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 &amp; 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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<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&mdash;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&mdash;and nights too&mdash;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&mdash;straight
+upwards&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;I&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;so
+he said&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;if it was as
+soft as the Kitten's nose&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;" Moses Mouse explained&mdash;"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&mdash;as you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+call her&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;as he said&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;" he said to himself
+proudly&mdash;"this raft belongs to me. I'll
+be a traveler. I'll see the world&mdash;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&mdash;" he told Master
+Meadow Mouse&mdash;"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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;as to Master Meadow
+Mouse&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;" he explained
+to his cousin, whom he met later&mdash;"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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;and not till then&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;if he saw nobody that was fiercer
+than Paddy Muskrat&mdash;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&mdash;if he was in the water&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;when
+I asked you what you were doing
+here&mdash;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&mdash;" Uncle Billy declared
+hotly&mdash;"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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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
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+</body>
+</html>
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+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: ASCII
+
+*** 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
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse
+
+[Illustration: Master Meadow Mouse gets on the raft]
+
+
+
+
+  The TALE of
+    MASTER
+    MEADOW
+    MOUSE
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+         _By_
+  ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
+
+       AUTHOR OF
+  THE CUFFY BEAR BOOKS,
+ SLEEPY TIME TALES, ETC.
+
+   ILLUSTRATED BY
+   ELEANORE FAGAN
+
+
+   GROSSET & DUNLAP
+  PUBLISHERS--NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY
+   GROSSET & DUNLAP
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+        CHAPTER                        PAGE
+            I A FAT LITTLE FELLOW         1
+           II A PEEP AT THE WORLD         6
+          III THE KITTEN                 11
+           IV A PLEASANT STRANGER        16
+            V MR. FROG INSISTS           21
+           VI MEETING MR. CROW           25
+          VII NOTHING BUT AIR            30
+         VIII MOSES MOUSE                35
+           IX MISS SNOOPER               40
+            X A HANDY SIGN               45
+           XI A CASTLE IN THE AIR        50
+          XII A MIDNIGHT FROLIC          55
+         XIII A MOONLIGHT RAID           60
+          XIV THE MASKED BANDIT          64
+           XV THE FLOOD                  68
+          XVI ON THE RAFT                73
+         XVII A LUCKY ESCAPE             78
+        XVIII UNDER THE SNOW             83
+          XIX OWL FRIENDS                88
+           XX EATING A TREE              94
+          XXI A COLD DIP                100
+         XXII FISHING FOR MICE          105
+        XXIII MOVING DAY                110
+         XXIV MASTER OR MISTER?         115
+
+
+
+
+The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+1
+
+A Fat Little Fellow
+
+
+MASTER MEADOW MOUSE 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.
+
+He lived in Farmer Green's meadow. And he never harmed anybody. For
+Master Meadow Mouse was fat and good-natured.
+
+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.
+
+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 _Mister_
+Meadow Mouse.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+"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."
+
+But Master Meadow Mouse didn't want to move.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+2
+
+A Peep at the World
+
+
+WHAT 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+If his mother hadn't come home and found him out of the nest there's no
+telling what would have happened to him.
+
+"Get back!" she cried, pushing him towards the mouth of the
+tunnel--their doorway. "It's a mercy Henry Hawk hasn't spied you."
+
+Master Meadow Mouse hung back. He didn't want to be hurried away from
+the new world that he had just discovered.
+
+"I don't see Henry Hawk," he squeaked.
+
+Mrs. Meadow Mouse gave a sort of grunt.
+
+"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?"
+
+Mrs. Meadow Mouse did not wait for her son's answer. She went off again
+and left him to ponder over her question.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 danger of any kind, and
+how to dodge into their tunnel when there was need.
+
+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.
+
+Then came the day when he met the kitten from the farmhouse.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+3
+
+The Kitten
+
+
+MASTER MEADOW MOUSE 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.
+
+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 a
+kitten belonging to Miss Kitty Cat, who lived at Farmer Green's house.
+
+Like Master Meadow Mouse, the kitten was exploring the meadow. To her,
+as to him, it was a new world.
+
+It would be hard to say which of the two was the more surprised.
+
+"Oh!" Master Meadow Mouse squeaked right out loud. "I--I--I wish I'd
+stayed at home."
+
+"Ho!" the kitten mewed. "I'm glad I came a-hunting."
+
+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.
+
+"What's the matter with you?" the kitten asked him. "Don't you know that
+you ought to run when I jump at you?"
+
+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.
+
+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 entirely
+different matter to seize a person that didn't try to escape, but faced
+her almost boldly.
+
+"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!
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+The kitten squalled. And she backed hastily away. "You'd better run!"
+she advised Master Meadow Mouse. "I shall not give you another chance!"
+
+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.
+
+And then Master Meadow Mouse ran. He ran home as fast as he could go.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+4
+
+A Pleasant Stranger
+
+
+THE 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+"Look out!" she warned her son. "Look out for the Pickerel tribe!
+They're the most dangerous fish in the creek."
+
+"Yes!" said Master Meadow Mouse. "I know that. I've been told about them
+already."
+
+"You have!" his mother exclaimed. "Who told you?"
+
+"A greenish gentleman with a very wide smile and queer, bulging eyes,"
+Master Meadow Mouse replied.
+
+"That's Ferdinand Frog!" Mrs. Meadow Mouse cried. "He's as dangerous as
+any Pickerel that ever swam. Where did you meet him?"
+
+"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.
+
+The news made Mrs. Meadow Mouse turn slightly pale. She shuddered
+although the day was warm; for she feared and detested Ferdinand Frog.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"Ferdinand Frog was very pleasant when I met him," he remarked. "He
+cracked jokes. And he laughed at them himself."
+
+"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."
+
+"Well, he's a fine swimmer, anyhow," her son declared.
+
+"Another reason why you should avoid him!" his mother retorted.
+
+"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."
+
+"It's a mercy you didn't,". Mrs. Meadow Mouse gasped. "I'm glad you had
+sense enough to stay on the bank."
+
+"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 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."
+
+"Kind!" Mrs. Meadow Mouse spluttered. "He didn't want them to catch you
+because he hopes to catch you himself!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+5
+
+Mr. Frog Insists
+
+
+MASTER MEADOW MOUSE 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.
+
+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.
+
+Ferdinand Frog proved to be as agreeable as ever. When he caught sight
+of 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.
+
+"You've come for a swim--haven't you?" said Ferdinand Frog.
+
+Master Meadow Mouse admitted that he _had_ 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."
+
+"Come right in and have your swim!" Mr. Frog urged him. "You can change
+your clothes as soon as you get home."
+
+"Oh, no--I can't," said Master Meadow Mouse.
+
+"Why not?" Mr. Frog asked him.
+
+"Because I haven't any more!"
+
+"Now, that's a pity," Ferdinand Frog told him. "A handsome youngster
+like you ought to have a best suit to wear on special occasions."
+
+Master Meadow Mouse looked interested.
+
+"I'd like a nice new suit," he replied. "But where am I going to get
+it?"
+
+"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!"
+
+"That's very kind of you," said Master Meadow Mouse a bit doubtfully.
+"But I don't know how I could pay you."
+
+The tailor laughed merrily.
+
+"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."
+
+Mr. Meadow Mouse shook his head.
+
+"No!" he told Mr. Frog. "I'm not going to your shop. I'm not going a
+single step nearer to you than I am now. I've taken _your_ measure
+already, Mr. Frog. I know your game. And you can't catch me that way."
+
+For once Ferdinand Frog forgot to laugh. He was so surprised that his
+mouth fell wide open as he stared at Master Meadow Mouse.
+
+He had an enormous mouth. Master Meadow Mouse shivered slightly as he
+looked down Mr. Frog's throat.
+
+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.
+
+Mr. Frog swam off in great haste.
+
+"That Pickerel person," said Mr. Meadow Mouse aloud, "means to take Mr.
+Frog's measure if he can."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+6
+
+Meeting Mr. Crow
+
+
+DURING 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Never let Mr. Crow catch you taking any corn!" Mrs. Meadow Mouse had
+told 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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+So it wasn't his fault that he was caught unawares one day, soon after
+Farmer Green cut the grass in the meadow.
+
+Master Meadow Mouse was tripping 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 _boom_ of a bittern that morning. And the day before he had
+seen a butcher-bird skimming low over the meadow.
+
+Those two, he knew, were every bit as dangerous as Henry Hawk.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration: Master Meadow Mouse ran plump into old Mr. Crow]
+
+It was old Mr. Crow. And Master Meadow Mouse thought he had an odd
+glitter in his snapping eyes.
+
+"I--I haven't been taking any corn," Master Meadow Mouse stammered.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+7
+
+Nothing but Air
+
+
+OLD 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.
+
+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.
+
+Old Mr. Crow coughed hoarsely.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+"I don't want to go above ground," he said. "Can't you talk to me, where
+I am?"
+
+"It's not easy to do that," Mr. Crow grumbled. "I have to speak too
+loud; and my voice is hoarse to-day."
+
+"Stick your bill into my tunnel as far as it will go," Master Meadow
+Mouse suggested. "Then you won't have to shout. I could hear a whisper
+if you'd do as I say."
+
+Old Mr. Crow thrust his bill down the hole.
+
+"I don't like this," he croaked. "I can't see you."
+
+"That's because you're shutting out all the light," Master Meadow Mouse
+explained.
+
+"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 _refuse_ to injure my voice trying to talk with anybody
+that won't give me a more friendly welcome when I call on him."
+
+"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!"
+
+"Ah!" Mr. Crow cried. "I _knew_ you had something in that tunnel. Remove
+the air at once, sir, or I'll go away and leave you."
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+8
+
+Moses Mouse
+
+
+MASTER MEADOW MOUSE 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.
+
+At night he ventured further from home. And once he went even as far as
+the farmyard.
+
+To his surprise he found that the grass in Farmer Green's yard was
+longer than 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.
+
+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.
+
+"I'll come!" Master Meadow Mouse decided. "I'll come--if I can find a
+good place for a nest."
+
+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.
+
+"The very place!" he cried. "I'll begin to built my nest to-night."
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+"I'm Moses Mouse and I live in the farmhouse," said the gray gentleman.
+
+"I'm Master Meadow Mouse and I'm going to live in this woodpile," said
+the reddish-brown chap in reply.
+
+"That's good news," Moses Mouse remarked. "But you must look out for
+Miss Snooper," he added.
+
+"Who is she?" Master Meadow Mouse asked his new friend.
+
+"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."
+
+To the great astonishment of Moses Mouse, the short-tailed stranger
+seemed in no wise startled by his news.
+
+"Huh!" Master Meadow Mouse exclaimed. "If this Miss Snooper--as you
+call her--bothers me, I'll serve her as I did one of her kittens."
+
+"What did you do to the kitten?" Moses Mouse inquired with great
+interest.
+
+"I bit her nose," said Master Meadow Mouse.
+
+Moses Mouse gazed at him with horror.
+
+"Don't try that on the old lady!" he cried. "If you do, you'll be
+sorry."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+9
+
+Miss Snooper
+
+
+MOSES MOUSE, who lived in the farmhouse, had warned Master Meadow Mouse.
+He had warned him to look out for Miss Snooper's nose.
+
+Master Meadow Mouse did not pay any great attention to his new friend's
+advice. He was building himself a new home in Farmer Green's woodpile.
+And he went about his work as if there wasn't a cat within a hundred
+miles.
+
+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 that Master Meadow Mouse could have leaped upon her back in
+one spring.
+
+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.
+
+"Goodness!" thought Master Meadow Mouse, staring at Miss Snooper with
+great awe. "Goodness! Her whiskers are longer than mine!"
+
+And then he drew back very softly and crept to his nest in the woodpile.
+
+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.
+
+"I saw Miss Snooper to-day," Master Meadow Mouse told them.
+
+"Did you bite her nose?" Mrs. Mouse asked him eagerly; for her husband
+had told her all about the newcomer.
+
+"No!" said Master Meadow Mouse. "No! I was too busy, building my new
+home, to stop and bite her."
+
+"Isn't he brave!" whispered Mrs. Moses Mouse to her husband.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"Probably Master Meadow Mouse will bite Miss Snooper's nose this time,"
+she said to Moses, when she had reached a safe retreat.
+
+"He isn't biting it now," Moses Mouse replied, "because he's crowding
+right behind me."
+
+"Miss Snooper has come," Mrs. Mouse said to Master Meadow Mouse. "Maybe
+you didn't understand that it was she."
+
+"Let her come!" Master Meadow Mouse squeaked.
+
+"Isn't he brave!" Mrs. Moses Mouse murmured.
+
+"I'll bite her nose if she sticks it into this crevice," Master Mouse
+declared.
+
+"Isn't he brave!" she breathed into her husband's ear.
+
+"I'm not so sure of that," said Moses Mouse in an undertone. "He _talks_
+a good deal about nose-biting. I should like to see him _do_ it. I knew
+Miss 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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+10
+
+A Handy Sign
+
+
+HUNTING 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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."
+
+"There!" said Master Meadow Mouse as he stood off a few paces and looked
+at his handiwork. "That ought to do the trick."
+
+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."
+
+Master Meadow Mouse slept late into the afternoon. And towards sunset,
+while he was still asleep, Tommy Fox slipped through the pasture fence.
+
+"Hullo!" he murmured softly as his eyes fell on Master Meadow Mouse's
+dwelling. "Here's a bit of luck. I smell a Mouse. And he must be taking
+a nap inside his house."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+But he couldn't find Master Meadow Mouse anywhere. He looked all
+around--except inside the shelter where Master Meadow Mouse was fast
+asleep.
+
+Tommy Fox came back and read the sign once more.
+
+"Back To-morrow," he muttered. "Very well! I'll come back here
+to-morrow. For that's what the sign tells me to do."
+
+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.
+
+There was nobody there. And Tommy Fox looked silly as anything.
+
+"Fooled!" he growled. "Fooled by a Meadow Mouse! I hope nobody ever
+finds it out."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+11
+
+A Castle in the Air
+
+
+IT 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+"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 him
+whenever he crossed the bare field. Now, however, he forgot his
+displeasure in the joy that Farmer Green's latest move gave him.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Luckily there were shocks enough for all--and more. And no disputes
+arose. Some wanted to settle near the fence. 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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+It was an easy matter to build that home. Everything that he needed was
+right at hand. And it was no time at all 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.
+
+As he settled himself at last in his new quarters, just before he dozed
+off Master Meadow Mouse murmured happily to himself.
+
+"I never thought," he said, "that I'd sleep in a castle in the air."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+12
+
+A Midnight Frolic
+
+
+MASTER MEADOW MOUSE 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.
+
+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 foot to the ground, unless he wanted a
+drink.
+
+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.
+
+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 let it be
+known that he was expecting to spend the winter in the North.
+
+"I've noticed signs," he had said, "that tell me we're going to have a
+mild winter."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"They're stealing corn!" the old gentleman spluttered. "I'd stop them if
+I could. But what can I do when they hide the moment they see me
+coming?"
+
+The old fellow pondered over the question.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Mr. Crow suddenly veered off his straight course and alighted in a tree.
+
+"That will never do," he croaked. "Fatty would eat more than all the
+Meadow Mice in Pleasant Valley."
+
+Little did Mr. Crow know that Fatty Coon was already planning to visit
+the cornfield as soon as it grew dark.
+
+Nor did Master Meadow Mouse and his cousins guess that they were to have
+an unwelcome guest that night.
+
+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.
+
+For somebody squeaked in a frightened voice: "Fatty Coon is crawling
+through the pasture fence!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+13
+
+A Moonlight Raid
+
+
+THE 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.
+
+He felt safe enough. Hadn't old Mr. Crow come to the cornfield every
+day? _He_ had never even poked into a shock to disturb Master Meadow
+Mouse or one of his cousins. Mr. Crow had eaten corn, to 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.
+
+Master Meadow Mouse had fallen into a doze when a sharp rustle waked
+him.
+
+"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."
+
+Master Meadow Mouse tried to go to sleep again.
+
+"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.
+
+"There!" he exclaimed after a few moments. "He's gone, thank goodness!"
+
+But Fatty Coon had only carried his ear 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.
+
+After he had devoured the first ear of corn, Fatty Coon went back and
+pulled another off the same shock.
+
+Again he roused Master Meadow Mouse from his slumbers.
+
+"He's at it again!" Master Meadow Mouse complained. "I wish he'd go to
+some other shock."
+
+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.
+
+"Was that a squeak?" he asked himself. And then he sniffed. "Ha!" he
+cried. "Do I smell a Meadow Mouse?"
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+And inside the shock Master Meadow Mouse suddenly started up in alarm.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+14
+
+The Masked Bandit
+
+
+IT 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.
+
+"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."
+
+Meanwhile Fatty Coon was muttering horribly to himself as he worked.
+
+"This fellow must be fat," he grunted, 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."
+
+"My goodness!" Master Meadow Mouse gasped. "How annoying! He intends to
+eat me!"
+
+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.
+
+"Maybe I'll bite his nose," he said to himself. "But I want to peep at
+him first."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+One good look was enough for Master 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."
+
+"I'll run first," Master Meadow Mouse decided. "Then perhaps I shan't
+have to fight at all."
+
+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.
+
+He gave a wail of anger and dismay.
+
+"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."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+15
+
+The Flood
+
+
+"THIS 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.
+
+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.
+
+"It seems as if I were always moving," Master Meadow Mouse mused. "It's
+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."
+
+He was talking with Long Bill Wren, who had a nest in a marshy spot near
+the creek.
+
+"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?"
+
+"I'll be in the water, I suppose," Master Meadow Mouse answered.
+
+"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 the reeds so we'll be dry, no matter if there's a freshet
+in midsummer."
+
+"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."
+
+Long Bill Wren gave him an odd look.
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+Long Bill Wren shook his head.
+
+"I hope you'll escape," he said. "I shall not be here to know whether
+you do 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Master Meadow Mouse swam out to it and scrambled upon it.
+
+"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."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+16
+
+On the Raft
+
+
+A BOARD 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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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 be able to find his way
+back, if he ventured too far from home.
+
+Soon he spied a friend on the bank of the creek. Master Meadow Mouse
+cried, "Good-by!" and waved a paw at him.
+
+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.
+
+"I don't want to be rescued," he called. "I'm seeing the world."
+
+His cousin hurried along the bank, still watching the strange sight.
+
+"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?"
+
+[Illustration: Master Meadow Mouse drifted toward Mr. Heron]
+
+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.
+
+"Oh, well!" he said at last. "It can't be helped. There's always _some_
+danger in traveling--so I've heard."
+
+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.
+
+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. A
+fish, or a frog, or a mouse! He didn't care which.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"If I only had some oars, or a rudder, I could steer this old raft away
+from him," Master Meadow Mouse thought. But he had nothing of the sort.
+
+Master Meadow Mouse groaned.
+
+"I wish I'd never gone a-traveling!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+17
+
+A Lucky Escape
+
+
+NEARER 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.
+
+"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 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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+So he hugged the board tight. But the closer he came to Mr. Heron the
+bigger and fiercer that gentleman looked.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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 moments at the
+edge of the channel, and then drifted lazily toward shore, where it
+lodged at last among the reeds.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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 able to hide beneath the board and stay there until
+it swung into the rushes."
+
+"You had a narrow escape," his cousin told him. "Don't say that I didn't
+warn you!"
+
+That cousin was one of those persons that always exclaim, "I told you
+so!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+18
+
+Under the Snow
+
+
+WINTER 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.
+
+At last he could scamper about the meadow without being seen by
+everybody. For he set to work at once to make tunnels beneath the snow.
+They ran in every direction from his house. And he was forever pushing
+them further and further.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+"It's plain that they don't like you," his cousin remarked.
+
+"Nor you, either!" Solomon Owl boomed. And then all at once he burst
+forth with a peal of ghostly laughter. _"Wha, wha, whoo-ah!_"
+
+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.
+
+"There won't be any fun to-night," he grumbled.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+19
+
+Owl Friends
+
+
+"THERE'S 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!"
+
+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.
+
+Solomon Owl stopped him quickly.
+
+"Don't do that!" he said sharply. "Do you want to scare the Mice?"
+Simon Screecher cut his whistle off right in the middle of it.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"I've about made up my mind," said Simon Screecher, "that I'd move to
+some other neighborhood. If I knew where there was good mousing I'd
+move to-morrow."
+
+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.
+
+At that moment his cousin began to whistle again.
+
+"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."
+
+"I forgot," said Simon Screecher once more. "I'm so used to whistling
+that I don't know when I'm doing it."
+
+[Illustration: Solomon Owl and Simon Screecher wait for Master Meadow
+Mouse]
+
+"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 send them a telegram, saying that you'll be on hand to
+meet them at eight P. M."
+
+Simon Screecher was silenced for the time being.
+
+And it wasn't long before Solomon Owl gave another start.
+
+"There's that squeak again!" he whispered. "I believe it is getting
+nearer, too."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Solomon Owl saw him. And he dived out of the old oak straight at Master
+Meadow Mouse.
+
+Master Meadow Mouse pulled his head in just in time.
+
+"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."
+
+As Solomon Owl returned to the old oak his cousin Simon Screecher
+laughed somewhat unpleasantly.
+
+"Missed him--didn't you?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"Why didn't you grab him out of the snow?" Simon asked. "What are your
+claws for? What's your beak for?"
+
+"I couldn't dig him out," Solomon Owl replied. "The snow is three feet
+deep. And it has seven different crusts, one under another."
+
+"This is a hard winter," said Simon Screecher. "I wish I'd gone South
+last fall. I wonder how the mousing is down there."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+20
+
+Eating a Tree
+
+
+AS SIMON SCREECHER 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.
+
+Even Master Meadow Mouse began to 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.
+
+At last he went to one of his cousins who had already spent one winter
+in the meadow.
+
+"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."
+
+"That's easy," his cousin answered. "Get more!" And then he hurried
+away, for he had important business to attend to.
+
+Poor Master Meadow Mouse ran after 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.
+
+"You advised me to get more food," said Master Meadow Mouse. "But you
+didn't tell me where to get it."
+
+"In the orchard!" his cousin cried. And then he hurried away again.
+
+"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."
+
+The cousin seemed surprised when Master Meadow Mouse overtook him.
+
+"What!" that busy gentleman exclaimed. "Have you been to the orchard and
+back so soon?"
+
+"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."
+
+"That's easy," his cousin replied. "Trees!" Having said those three
+words he dashed off again even faster than before.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"You're not going to get away from me till I've found out what I want
+to know," he declared. "How can I eat a tree?" Master Meadow Mouse
+demanded.
+
+"You can't!" his cousin replied, struggling desperately to free himself,
+for he was too busy to stop long.
+
+"Then explain what you mean!" Master Meadow Mouse cried.
+
+"Eat the bark!" his cousin answered.
+
+Then--and not till then--did Master Meadow Mouse let him go.
+
+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.
+
+But Farmer Green didn't agree with him. When he happened to go into the
+orchard one day, later, and saw tree after tree ruined, he was very,
+very much displeased.
+
+"I ought to have put wire netting around those young trees," he told the
+hired man. "This is what comes of a hard winter."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+21
+
+A Cold Dip
+
+
+IN 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 swimming in the brook. If it hadn't been
+for the meadow mice perhaps he wouldn't have visited the brook so often.
+
+Even in winter Master Meadow Mouse just _had_ 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.
+
+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
+feet. When he found no place to walk, he swam.
+
+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 _would_ have his cold dip now and then despite
+Peter Mink and his prowling ways.
+
+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.
+
+To tell the truth, Master Meadow Mouse always felt safer when one of
+the 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+22
+
+Fishing for Mice
+
+
+MASTER MEADOW MOUSE 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.
+
+"What are you doing up there?" Master Meadow Mouse called.
+
+"Fishing!" said Peter Mink promptly.
+
+"Aren't you a long way from the water?" Master Meadow Mouse inquired.
+
+"With a pole, one doesn't need to stand right at the water's edge," said
+Peter Mink.
+
+"But you haven't a pole," Master Meadow Mouse pointed out. "At least, I
+can't see that you have one."
+
+Peter was greatly surprised--or seemed to be.
+
+"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 _you_ doing here?" Peter Mink asked pleasantly.
+
+"I came to take a swim," Master Meadow Mouse explained.
+
+"Have you had it?"
+
+"Not yet!" Master Meadow Mouse told him. "And I believe I'll wait till
+to-morrow."
+
+"The water's fine to-day," said Peter Mink. "I've been in and out of it
+forty times."
+
+But Master Meadow Mouse wasn't to be persuaded so easily.
+
+"I might spoil your fishing if I went in now," he remarked.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"I didn't know there were any fish in this brook worth catching," he
+piped. "They say there were trout here once. But now there's nothing
+bigger than a minnow."
+
+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."
+
+"Ah!" cried Master Meadow Mouse. "You'd far rather catch me than catch a
+fish in this pool."
+
+Peter Mink grinned at him brazenly.
+
+"I won't deny it," he replied.
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+"Good day!" said Master Meadow Mouse. "Good day and good-by!"
+
+"Don't say good-by!" Peter Mink corrected. "Say, 'Till we meet again!'"
+
+But Master Meadow Mouse had already pulled his head out of sight and
+vanished inside his tunnel.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+23
+
+Moving Day
+
+
+MASTER MEADOW MOUSE 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.
+
+"I just saw Peter Mink at the brook!" Master Meadow Mouse called.
+
+"Ha!" Uncle Billy snorted. "The question is, did he see you?"
+
+"He did," Master Meadow Mouse answered with no little pride, for he
+felt quite important. "He not only saw me. He talked with me."
+
+"Ha!" Uncle Billy snorted again. "Then this is moving day."
+
+"Why, it's not the first of May, is it?" Master Meadow Mouse cried.
+
+"Hardly!" said Uncle Billy, with something like a sniff. "It's not
+Ground Hog Day yet; and that's only the second of February."
+
+"Then why should anybody move, right in the middle of winter?" Master
+Meadow Mouse wanted to know.
+
+"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."
+
+Master Meadow Mouse couldn't help feeling guilty. Still, he hoped he
+hadn't made as great a mistake as Uncle Billy would have him believe.
+
+"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."
+
+"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!"
+
+By that time others of the villagers had gathered round and heard the
+news. Of course the news spread fast. And in a surprisingly short while
+the Meadow Mouse family was on its way to the mill pond.
+
+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.
+
+But every one was polite to him, for he was the oldest Meadow Mouse on
+the farm.
+
+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.
+
+Especially did Master Meadow Mouse like to hear Paddy Muskrat slap his
+tail upon the water, when he gave the danger signal.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+24
+
+Master or Mister?
+
+
+LIVING, 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.
+
+By spring Paddy Muskrat knew Master Meadow Mouse well enough to ask him
+a very intimate question.
+
+"Why does everybody call you 'Master'?" he inquired one day.
+
+Master Meadow Mouse looked at him in a puzzled fashion for a moment or
+two.
+
+"I don't know," he answered. "I don't know why, unless it's because they
+_always have_ called me that. Don't you think it's a good name?" he
+asked Paddy Muskrat a bit anxiously.
+
+"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."
+
+"I'm not a youngster!" Master Meadow Mouse cried. "Nobody can call me
+_young_. I'm almost a year old!"
+
+"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."
+
+It was plain that Master Meadow Mouse agreed with him in every way. He
+had 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.
+
+"If they want me to answer after this, they'll have to call me something
+else," he declared. "Now, what would you suggest?"
+
+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.
+
+"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'!"
+
+"That's fine!" cried Master Meadow 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."
+
+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.
+
+"I'm grown up now," he told his hearers. "From this time on I expect
+everybody to call me _Mister_ Meadow Mouse."
+
+And everybody said that a new name was no more than he deserved. They
+all approved his choice.
+
+No! There was just one among all the company that was opposed to the
+change. He snorted and started to say something disagreeable. And for
+once everybody told Uncle Billy (for it was he!) to be quiet.
+
+And that was the end of Master Meadow Mouse.
+
+[Illustration: THE END]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Comma added on title page after "CUFFY BEAR BOOKS"
+
+Page 41, "Farmer's" changed to "Farmer" (Farmer Green's woodpile)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse, by 
+Arthur Scott Bailey
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