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diff --git a/old/mousr10.txt b/old/mousr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..35e8fbd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/mousr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1906 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mouser Cats' Story, by Amy Prentice + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Mouser Cats' Story + +Author: Amy Prentice + +Release Date: April, 2005 [EBook #7898] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 31, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOUSER CATS' STORY *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Tonya Allen +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +[Illustration: Mrs. Mouser Cat walked up to Aunt Amy with a mouse in her +mouth] + + +MOUSER CATS' STORY + +By AMY PRENTICE + + +With Thirty-Five Illustrations and a Frontispiece in Colors + +BY J. WATSON DAVIS + + + +[Illustration] + +MOUSER CAT'S STORY. + + +On that day last week when it stormed so very hard, your Aunt Amy was +feeling very lonely, because all of her men and women friends in the +house were busy, and it was not reasonable to suppose any of her bird or +animal acquaintances would be out. As she sat by the window, watching +the little streams of water as they ran down the glass, she said to +herself that this was one of the days when she could not hope to be +entertained by story-telling. + +[Illustration: Mrs. Mouser Cat.] + +"You don't seem to care whether Mrs. Man makes the pickles properly, or +not," a voice from the doorway said, and, looking around in surprise, +your Aunt Amy saw Mrs. Mouser Cat, an animal with whom she was very well +acquainted, but who had never before ventured to speak with her. + +Considerably astonished, because it had not come into her mind that Mrs. +Mouser might prove to be as entertaining as any of the other animals she +had talked with, your Aunt Amy asked: + +"What about the pickles, Mrs. Mouser?" + +"Why, Mrs. Man is putting them up; didn't you know it?" the cat replied, +and your Aunt Amy said with a sigh: + +"Oh, yes indeed, Mrs. Mouser, I know that, and you also know it is not +possible for me to do any work around the house, owing to my illness. +That is why I am idle on this day when the storm makes it seem very, +very lonely. + +"You can sit out of doors all the afternoon with a foolish old duck, or +talk by the hour with Mr. Turtle, who hasn't got sense enough to go in +when it rains, and yet you never invited me for an afternoon's +story-telling," and Mrs. Mouser arched her back as if she was angry. + +"Do you know any stories?" your Aunt Amy asked, surprised again, and +Mrs. Mouser replied quickly: + +"It would be funny if I didn't. I've lived on this farm more than six +years, and have known pretty much all that has happened around here in +that time." + + + + +WHY CATS CATCH MICE. + + +"I wish you could think of a story to tell me now," your Aunt Amy said. +"I am just in the mood for hearing one." + +"It is the hardest thing in the world to stand up and begin telling a +story without anything to start one going," Mrs. Mouser said +thoughtfully, as she brushed her whiskers with her paw. "After you once +get into it, of course, they come easy enough. How would it do if I +should explain why it is that cats catch mice?" + +"Was there ever a time when they didn't catch mice?" your Aunt Amy +asked, surprised for the third time. + +[Illustration: Mrs. Pussy Cat Visits her Cousin] + +"Oh, yes indeed," Mrs. Mouser said in a matter-of-fact tone. "All cats +used to be good friends with the mice, once upon a time, and it happened +that because an old Mrs. Pussy, who lived in the city, didn't have +anything in the house to eat, the cats took up catching mice. You see it +was in this way: A cat that had always lived in the country, made up her +mind one day to go and see her cousin in the city, so she put on her +bonnet and shawl, wrapped some fried fish in a paper, and started. + +"When she got there her cousin saw the fish, and it made her ashamed +because she hadn't anything in the house to offer the visitor, so she +asked, turning up her nose considerably: + +"Do you cats in the country eat fish?' and Mrs. Pussy replied: + +"Why, yes, of course we do; don't you?" + +"Certainly not; it is thought to be a sign of ill-breeding to eat such +vulgar food,' and then remembering that she could not offer her cousin +the least little thing, she said, never stopping to think very much +about it. We eat mice here. They are delicious; you would be surprised +to know what a delicate flavor they have." + +That surprised the country cousin, and nothing would do but that she +must go right out hunting for mice. Of course some one had to go with +her, and then it was that the city cat found she hadn't made any such a +very great mistake after all, for mice or rats, take them any way you +please, cooked or raw, are very nice indeed. + + + + +THE KITTY WHICH THE SNOW BROUGHT. + + +"Do you think that is a true story?" your Aunt Amy asked, and Mrs. +Mouser replied: + +"I can't really say; but I think it is as true as that the snow brought +a white cat to Dolly Man." Your Aunt Amy knew Miss Dolly's kitten very +well; but she had never heard any such thing as Mrs. Mouser intimated, +therefore, as a matter of course, she was curious regarding the affair, +and asked that it be explained to her. + +"I was in the house when this happened, so there is no mistake about the +story part of it," Mrs. Mouser began. "It was snowing one day, and +Dolly, standing by the window, said to her mother that she wished the +snow-flakes would turn into a pretty, little, white kitten, so she could +have something to play with. She hadn't hardly more than spoken, when +they heard a cat calling from out of doors, and Dolly ran into the +hallway, believing the snow-flakes had really turned into a pet for her. +Now it is kind of odd, but true just the same, that when she opened the +door there stood a white kitten, the same one we call Kitty Snow. + +"She was the forlornest little stray kitten you could ever imagine, and +as white then as she is now, from her nose to the tip of her tail, but +so nearly frozen when Dolly took her in, that they had to wrap her in a +blanket, and keep her near the fire two or three hours before she thawed +out." + +"I believe that you and Kitty Snow are not very good friends," your Aunt +Amy said. + +[Illustration: Dolly and Kitty Snow.] + +"Well, I can't say that we are," Mrs. Mouser replied thoughtfully. "That +white cat has been petted so much that she really isn't of any very +great service about the house. I don't believe she has caught a mouse in +six months, and yet I heard her tell Mr. Towser Dog no longer ago than +yesterday, that she was of more value around this farm than I. Just +think of it! And it has been proven that I have a good deal more sense +than Mr. Fox, cunning as he thinks he is." + + + + +WHEN MR. FOX WAS FOOLISH. + + +As a matter of course, your Aunt Amy asked her what she meant, and Mrs. +Mouser sat down at one side of the fireplace, as if making ready for an +afternoon of story-telling. + +[Illustration: Mrs. Mouser Flatters Mr. Fox.] + +"It was like this;" she said. "I was down in the meadow looking for +field mice one day, and met Mr. Fox. You know some animals think that he +and I are relations; but whether we are or not, we have always been good +friends. So he sat down for a chat, and we talked of first this thing +and then that, until finally I said, just to make myself agreeable: + +"'Do you know, Mr. Fox, I think you are very smart.' + +"Well now, would you believe it, that puffed him way up with pride, and +he said, grinning in a way that was enough to make any cat laugh: + +"'Indeed I am, Mrs. Mouser. There isn't an animal around here who can +hold a candle to me for smartness.' + +"'What about the dogs?' I asked, thinking to joke him a little, and he +turned up his nose as he said: + +"'I don't give a snap of my claws for all the dogs there are around this +place! Even if four or five of them should come right up here this +minute, it wouldn't bother me any. You may not think it; but Mr. Towser +is actually afraid of me. + +"Well now, do you know that made me laugh again, because in the first +place I knew it wasn't true; but what was the use of saying anything of +the kind to him? He was swelled way out with pride, so I changed the +conversation, and began talking about mice, when suddenly there was a +terrible commotion down the lane, and up came Mr. Towser, Miss Spaniel +and four or five other dogs, barking and yelping. + +"Oh me, oh my, how frightened I was! Up a tree I scurried as fast as my +legs would carry me, and not until I was safe on the highest limb did I +look around to see Mr. Fox, who didn't care the snap of his claws for +dogs; but, bless you, he was going toward the meadow with his tail +hanging straight out behind him, while the dogs were gaining on him at +every jump. Mr. Towser told me afterward that they made Mr. Fox just +about as sick as Mrs. Toad made the bugs." + +"What was it Mrs. Toad did?" your Aunt Amy asked, and Mrs. Mouser +replied with a grin: + +"Perhaps you never heard that Mr. Crow is a great hand at making +poetry?" + +[Illustration: Mr. Crow.] + +"I have indeed," your Aunt Amy replied, and it was only with difficulty +she prevented herself from laughing aloud. "I have heard of his poetry +from every bird and animal around this farm." + +[Illustration: Mr. Fox forgets how bold he was as the dogs chase him +through the field.] + + + + +A WET-WEATHER PARTY. + + +"Then perhaps you don't care to hear any more?" Mrs. Mouser said +inquiringly. + +"Indeed I do," your Aunt Amy replied, "if it is anything new, and I +surely have never heard of a wet-weather party." + +[Illustration: Mr. and Miss Cricket.] + +Mrs. Mouser stroked her whiskers a moment, and then began to repeat the +following: + + A little Black Ant was journeying home + From a marketing visit to town, + When down came the ram, pitter-patter, so fast, + It threatened to spoil her best gown. + + She wandered about till she quite lost her way, + Till at last a big Toadstool she found, + "Ah, here I can rest!" said the little Black Ant, + And she wearily sank to the ground. + + And as she sat resting, a light she espied, + And a Glow-worm came twinkling by. + "Dear me!" exclaimed he, with a gasp and a sob, + "I don't think I'll ever be dry!" + + "Come in, sir, come in," said the little Black Ant, + "Here is plenty of room, sir, for two. + Pray bring in your light, sir, and sit down by me, + Or else you'll be surely wet through." + +[Illustration: Mr. Stag-Beetle and the Newspaper Reporter.] + + The Glow-worm agreed, and soon brought in his light, + When a cricket appeared on the scene + With her fiddle and bow (she's a minstrel, you know) + --To a concert in town she had been. + + "Come in, ma'am, come in!" said the little Black Ant, + "Here is shelter and light for us all! + And if you could play us a nice little tune, + We might fancy we were at a ball." + +[Illustration: Mr. Beetle Arrives.] + + "Hear, hear!" said the voice of the Stag-Beetle bold, + Who just then was passing that way; + "And if there is dancing, I hope, dear Miss Ant, + That you will allow _me_ to stay!" + + "Come in, sir, come in!" said the little Black Ant, + "The more, sir, the merrier we! + And here, I declare, is my friend Mrs. Snail, + As busy as ever, I see!" + + "Come in, Mrs. Snail," said the little Black Ant, + "Come join our small party to-night! + Here's the Beetle and Cricket all quite snug and dry, + And the Glow-worm to give us some light!" + + So the Snail came and joined them, still knitting away, + And the Cricket her fiddle got out; + And then--well, you just should have seen how they + danced, + How they jumped and all capered about! + +[Illustration: Mrs. Toad Breaks up the Party.] + + The Little Black Ant did a skirt-dance quite well; + The Beetle a gay Highland fling; + And as for the Glow-worm, he just jigged about, + And _danced_ really nothing at all. + + But all of a sudden a croaking was heard, + And who should appear but a Toad, + Who hoarsely demanded their business, and why + They were all gathered in her abode? + + Then what a commotion! The little Black Ant + Went from one fainting fit to another; + The Snail simply shut herself up in her house, + And thought she'd escape all the bother! + + The Beetle and Glow-worm soon took themselves off, + And the Cricket and Ant with them too, + And once more these poor creatures were out in the rain, + And didn't know what they should do. + + But they presently came to the trunk of a tree, + And there they all stayed for the night; + But they never forgot that old, cross Mrs. Toad, + Who gave them so dreadful a fright!" + +"Mrs. Toad certainly succeeded in raising quite a disturbance," your +Aunt Amy said, feeling it necessary to make some comment, and Mrs. +Mouser replied thoughtfully: + + + + +MR. THOMAS CAT'S NARROW ESCAPE. + + +"Yes, almost as much as Mr. Man did when he tried to drown Mr. Thomas +Cat the other day. It seems that Mr. Thomas had been out in the stable +stealing the food which was left for Mr. Towser, and one of the maids, +seeing it, told Mr. Man, so then and there it was decided that Mr. +Thomas must be drowned. Mr. Man called him up, as if he was the best +friend he ever had, and when Mr. Thomas got near enough, he caught him +by the tail, starting off at once for the stream. + +[Illustration: Dragging Mr. Thomas to his Fate.] + +"'What are you going to do with me?' Mr. Thomas cried, and Mr. Man said: + +"'You wait and see. I'll teach you to steal Mr. Towser's food! You are +no good, that's what's the trouble with you--you are no good!' + +"So he took a rope out of his pocket and tied it around Mr. Thomas' +neck, after they got near the water. Then bent down over the bank to get +a big rock, when his foot slipped, and in he went splashing and howling +until you might have heard him on the next farm, for he couldn't swim a +stroke, and the water was deep where he went in. + +"Of course Mr. Thomas wasn't able to do anything to help him, so off he +started for the house the best he knew how, with the rope dragging on +behind, and when he got there, Mrs. Man couldn't help seeing him. +Knowing what her husband had counted on doing she mistrusted that +something was wrong, so down she ran to the stream, getting there just +in time to pull Mr. Man out of the water before he drew his last breath. + +"'How did you know where I was?' Mr. Man asked after the water had run +out of his mouth. + +"'Why the cat just the same as told me, when he came back with a rope +around his neck.' + +"'Well, he was some good after all,' Mr. Man said.' I had begun to think +all cats were useless, but it seems Mr. Crow was right in that poetry of +his, after all.' + +"Then Mr. Man went up to the house, and since then Mr. Thomas has been +allowed to stay round the farm, just as he pleases." + + + + +MR. CROW'S FANCY. + + +"What did he mean by saying Mr. Crow was right?" + +"Oh, that was on account of a piece of poetry he wrote about me. There +isn't much of it, and perhaps you had just as soon I would repeat it." + +Then, without waiting for permission, Mrs. Mouser recited the following: + + Some people love the gay giraffe + Because his antics make them laugh + (I've never found him witty), + Others prefer the cockatoo-- + He does things I should hate to do; + He's vulgar--more's the pity! + + An ostrich draws admiring throngs + Whenever he sings his comic songs, + And, really, it's no wonder! + The dormouse has been highly rated + (and justly) for his celebrated + Mimicking of thunder. + + I know some friends who'd journey miles + To see a bat's face wreathed in smiles, + They say it's grandly funny! + To see a buzzard drink port wine + Another eager friend of mine + Would pay no end of money. + + But that which most appeals to me-- + I know my taste may curious be-- + Is--not a mouse in mittens. + It is to see a homely cat, + Dressed up in an old battered hat, + A-walking with her kittens! + +[Illustration: Mrs. Tabby and Her Kittens.] + +"One would think from the verses, that you and Mr. Crow were very good +friends," your Aunt Amy suggested, and Mrs. Mouser said with a purr of +content: + +"We have always got along very well together, and I hope we always +shall, for really, say what you please about that old bird, it wouldn't +be pleasant to have him making sport of you in his verses. We are +neither of us as much in love with ourselves as were the peacock and the +crane, therefore I don't fancy we shall ever have any very serious +trouble." + + + + +A QUESTION OF BEAUTY. + + +"What about the peacock and the crane?" your Aunt Amy asked, not +disposed to let slip any opportunity of hearing a story. + +"Oh, that's something very, very old--why, my grandmother used to tell +about it. You know the crane thinks he has got a pretty tail, and I'm +not saying anything against it, for it is handsome; but this crane my +grandmother used to tell about, had the idea that he was the finest +looking bird who ever came out of an egg. He went around making a good +deal of such talk as that, and one day he met with a peacock for the +first time. Strangely enough, he had never heard about such a bird, so +he strutted back and forth as usual, and after they had talked a while +of the weather, and all that sort of thing, Mr. Crane said: + +[Illustration: As Mr. Peacock spread his tail, Mr. Crane flew off in +disgust] + +"'People tell me I am one of the handsomest birds that ever lived. +There's nothing in this world that quite comes up to my tail feathers, +and that much I can say without risk of being thought vain.' + +"'You have some very pretty feathers,' Mr. Peacock said, keeping his own +tail folded up so it couldn't be seen very well. 'But do you really +think they are more beautiful than can be found on any other bird?' + +"'I don't _think_ so, I know it,' Mr. Crane said, spreading the +long plumes of his tail out so they would show to the best advantage, +and just then Mr. Peacock unfolded his tail to its full size. + +"If you ever saw an astonished bird, it was Mr. Crane. He looked at the +beautiful feathers spread out like a great, big fan, and then started to +fly away. + +"'Where are you going?' Mr. Peacock asked. + +"And Mr. Crane answered, while he was in the air: + +"'Off somewhere to hide until I have got sense enough to hold my tongue +when I don't know what I'm talking about.' + +"Since that time I have never heard any of the cranes doing very much +bragging, and it is a pity that there are yet others around this place +who ought to get just such a lesson, for many of the animals here need +it sadly." + +"You among the rest?" your Aunt Amy asked laughingly, and Mrs. Mouser +Cat replied: + +"Thank goodness, I am not proud, and perhaps it is because I haven't +very much to take pride in. But I have lived long enough in this world +to know that one of us is of just about as much importance as another, +and the animal or the bird who thinks this world couldn't move very well +without him, is making a big mistake. There is nobody whose place cannot +be filled when it becomes necessary; there would even be somebody to run +this farm as well as Mr. Man does, if he should die to-morrow." + + + + +MENAGERIE POETRY. + + +"What I have in mind is told, in a foolish kind of a way, I suppose, by +Mr. Crow, who wrote the verses when Mr. Man's little girl Dolly wanted a +pet, and no matter how much she thought of one, if it died, or got lost, +the next that came along suited her almost as well. + +"Of course I don't want you to suppose I think this is anything but +nonsense; but at the same time it carries out the idea of what I have +been trying to say," and then Mrs. Mouser repeated the following: + + I once possessed an Elephant + Who fed on potted grouse; + One day I lost him, but I think + He's somewhere in the house. + +[Illustration: The Delicate Pet.] + + I had a Hippopotamus + Who really was quite slim; + He caught a chill, and so I thought + I'd best get rid of him. + + I also had a gay Giraffe, + Whose antics made me wince; + He went a walk to Brooklyn town, + I've never seen him since. + +[Illustration: The Pet Who Went to Brooklyn.] + + The Puffing Fish that I possessed + Would fill my heart with pride; + But ah! one day I made a joke-- + He laughed so that he died. + + You should have seen my Polar Bear, + He was a lively beast; + But what became of him at last + I've no idea, the least. + +[Illustration: The Very Sociable Pet.] + + My Grizzly Bear was certainly + By all my friends admired. + He tried to climb the Monument, + And when he failed, expired. + + Perhaps the dearest of them all + Was James, my Cockatoo-- + He took to stopping out at nights; + I gave him to the Zoo + +[Illustration: The Lively Pet] + + So now I haven't anything; + It's lonely, I must own. + I'll get a little calf, I think-- + I cannot live alone! + +"I don't wonder you call that 'Menagerie Poetry,'" your Aunt Amy said +when Mrs. Mouser ceased speaking; "but I think I understood, even +without the aid of the verses, the moral you intended to draw." + +"I should hope you did; but I remembered those lines, and it seemed to +me they came in just right. There is a story he tells about the Elephant +and the Bee, which teaches the same kind of a lesson." + + + + +WHEN MR. ELEPHANT AND MR. BEE HAD A QUARREL. + + +"I certainly would like to hear it," your Aunt Amy said when Mrs. Mouser +Cat ceased speaking, as if waiting for some such permission. + +"Well, in the first place you must understand that there was once an +Elephant and a Bee that were the very best of friends," Mrs. Mouser Cat +said as she curled her tail around her fore paws to prevent them from +being chilled by the draft. "One day the Elephant had walked a long +distance, and thought he would sit down to rest for a little while. Now +it seems the Bee had been flying around there, and he had got tired too, +so he laid down on the grass and went to sleep. + +"Now what do you think? When Mr. Elephant sat down he happened to hit +Mr. Bee's hind foot, and then there was a time! Mr. Bee talked +disgracefully, so it is said, to Mr. Elephant, and you would have +thought they never had been friends; but Mr. Elephant didn't answer him +back, because he was a peaceable kind of an animal, and knew that the +least said is the soonest mended. + +"When Mr. Bee got through scolding, they went on their journey again. I +don't know where they were traveling, but that doesn't make any +difference in the story. Off they started, and after a while it seemed +as if Mr. Bee got to feeling better, and Mr. Elephant said: + +"'I'm glad to see that you've got over being cross, for it was all an +accident, my hitting your foot.' + +"'Oh yes,' Mr. Bee answered, as if he intended to be friendly again. +'We'll try to forget all about it. Have you seen anything of my collars +and cuffs since we started?' + +"'Why, no,' replied Mr. Elephant. 'Have you lost them?' + +"'I haven't seen them since we left home, and I believe they must be in +your trunk.' + +"'I think not,' Mr. Elephant said; 'but you can go in and look for them, +if you choose.' + +"Now Mr. Bee hadn't got over his cross fit a little bit, and he was only +waiting for a chance to pay Mr. Elephant back. Well, he crawled into the +trunk just as far as he could get, and then he gave poor Mr. Elephant +the very hardest sting you ever dreamed about. + +[Illustration: When Mr. Elephant Sneezed.] + +"'Oh me, oh my!' Mr. Elephant howled. 'What a wicked little thing you +are! I'll fix you for that!' and then he hunched himself together, and +gave the biggest kind of a big sneeze. Now if you never saw anything of +the kind, you can't have an idea what a commotion it made when Mr. +Elephant did that, and, bless your heart, that was the last of Mr. Bee. +I don't know what became of him, and neither does anybody else. He must +have been dashed to pieces in the terrible wind that was raised, and it +served him good and right, too, for he deserved it just as much as ever +Mr. Bear did when he got so worn out by Mr. Man's boy Tommy." + + + + +WHEN TOMMY GOT THE BEST OF MR. BEAR. + + +"Is that another story?" your Aunt Amy asked, and Mrs. Mouser replied +with a laugh: + +"Yes, and it is a good one, too. Last year there was an old Mr. Bear +living near this farm, who was the most quarrelsome animal you ever saw, +and besides that, he was wicked. Do you know, he made up his mind that +he would bite a big piece out of Mr. Man's boy's leg, just because Tommy +drove him away when he was stealing honey. So one night he crept up to +the well, and got into the bucket, letting himself way down to the +bottom where he could float around until Tommy came out to get a pail of +water. + +"'I'll have him sure,' Mr. Bear said to himself, 'for when he pulls up +the bucket in the morning, I'll jump out and grab him, so he can't get +away.' + +"Well, Tommy went to the well at just about the same time as usual, and +when he started to raise the bucket with the windlass, he found it was +terribly heavy. He thought some one must have been putting rocks in it +to play a joke on him, so he kept on turning the crank around until the +bucket was nearly to the top, and then he saw what was the matter: + +[Illustration: Mr. Bear Makes a Mistake.] + +"'My goodness!' he cried. 'There's Mr. Bear, and it's water I'm after, +not bear!' + +"Then Tommy Man let go of the windlass, and of course down went Mr. Bear +to the bottom of the well with a bump that nearly shook him to pieces. + +"Now almost anybody might have thought that Tommy would run away after +that; but no, he made up his mind to serve Mr. Bear out good and hard, +so he went to work winding up the windlass again. Then, when he had +hauled Mr. Bear nearly to the top, he let him go back with a worse bump +than before, and so he kept on doing this same thing thirteen or fifteen +times, until Mr. Bear was so sore and bruised that he couldn't do much +of anything more than hold himself on to the edge of the bucket. + +"By that time Tommy had got all the sport he wanted, and he let Mr. Bear +crawl out of the bucket. I have heard it said that it was more than two +weeks before the old fellow could get out of bed, and the lesson did him +as much good as the one Mr. Donkey gave the Wild Hog, for he wasn't +quarrelsome again, and behaved himself decently well forever after." + + + + +MR. DONKEY'S LESSON IN GOOD MANNERS. + + +"I think the story about the donkey must be one which I have never +heard," your Aunt Amy said. "Although the animals on the farm have told +me quite a lot about Mr. Donkey, I have never thought of him as a +teacher. + +"It isn't what you might rightly call a story; but only something that +happened when Mr. Donkey showed his good sense. Now I don't understand +why Mr. Man tells about any one being as stupid as a donkey. Why, our +Neddy is as wise as anybody on this farm, and you will think so when I +have told this story about him. + +"It was one night after supper, and he thought he would take a stroll up +the road, because he hadn't been working very hard that day, and the +exercise might do him good. He was going along, minding his own +business, when Mr. Wild Hog came out from the bushes, and into the road. + +"Mr. Donkey stepped over one side so as to give him plenty of room, +saying 'good evening' politely, and was walking on when Mr. Wild Hog +bristled up to him, showing both his big tusks, and said: + +"'Why don't you turn out when you meet anybody of consequence?' + +"'Perhaps I do when I meet them,' Mr. Donkey replied, and that made Mr. +Hog terribly angry. "'Do you know I have a mind to give you a lesson in +good manners?' growled Mr. Hog, and Mr. Donkey said with a grin: + +"'Why not go off somewhere alone, and give yourself a lesson or two?' + +"Of course that made Mr. Hog more angry than ever, and he said: + +"'Do you know what I do when stupid animals like you try to be too +smart?' + +"'No; I don't care either,' Mr. Donkey replied; 'but I will show you +what I do when animals make bigger hogs of themselves than is natural.' + +"Just as he said this he turned around, swung up both heels, struck Mr. +Hog under the chin, and knocked him over and over as many as six times. +Then Mr. Donkey trotted off slowly, with a smile on his face that was +for all the world like Mr. Crocodile's after he had been to the +dentist's." + +[Illustration: Mr. Wild Hog tries to give Mr. Donkey a lesson in good +manners.] + + + + +WHEN MR. CROCODILE HAD HIS TEETH EXTRACTED. + + +"Why did he go to the dentist?" your Aunt Amy asked, thinking to hear +another story. + +[Illustration: Mr. Crocodile in Pain.] + +"I had better repeat the poetry Mr. Crow wrote about it, for that tells +the whole story, and without further delay Mrs. Mouser Cat recited the +following: + + Come, listen, and I'll sing awhile + About a winsome crocodile, + Who had a most engaging smile + Whene'er he smole. + + His basket with fresh fish to fill + Each day he'd tramp o'er vale and hill, + For he possessed quite wondrous skill + With rod and pole. + + But as he fished, one summer's day, + A toothache chased his smiles away; + No longer could he fish and play + His favorite role. + +[Illustration: Not a Tooth in His Head.] + + He stamped and growled, the pain was vile, + No more he grinned, Sir Crocodile, + (And he'd a most engaging smile + Whene'er he smole.) + + So straight he to the dentist went, + On stopping or extraction bent, + His soul was with such anguish rent; + He reached his goal. + + "Come sit down in the chair awhile; + Open your mouth, Sir Crocodile!" + (He had a most engaging smile + Whene'er he smole.) + + "Which is the tooth?" the dentist said; + "Dear, dear! You must have suffered-- + You've not a sound tooth in your head, + Not one that's whole!" + + He pulled them out; it took some while, + And then that toothsome crocodile + Had not quite such a pleasing smile + Whene'er he smole. + +"How do you suppose Mr. Crocodile felt when he was hungry, and wanted to +eat something?" your Aunt Amy asked. + + + + +THE DISSATISFIED CAT. + + +"Most likely much the same as did old Mrs. Pussy Cat up on the next +farm." + +"How was that?" your Aunt Amy asked. + +"Well, you see, she was partly black and partly white, and not being a +very neat cat, the white hair got dirty so often that she believed it +would be a great thing if it was all black. So she got the idea into her +head that if she should shave off the white hair, it would be the color +she wanted when it grew out again. + +"Well, now what do you suppose that poor foolish thing did? Why she went +to the barber's, and had him shave all the white hair off of her body. +She actually frightened the ducks and the geese when she came home, she +looked so queer; but you couldn't have made her believe it. She thought +she was a perfect beauty, and when she came over to this farm that +evening, Mr. Thomas Cat said to her: + +"'Why you are a perfect sight, that's what you are, with those tufts of +black hair all over you!' + +"'That's all the style,' Mrs. Pussy Cat said, and I think she really +believed that she was as handsome as any cat you could find. + +"Well, things went along all right while the weather was warm, but in +the course of ten days we had a heavy frost, and dear me, dear me, how +cold it grew all of a sudden! Poor Mrs. Pussy Cat was almost frozen to +death the first night of the cold snap, when she tried to stay with the +rest of us to a concert, and went home moaning: + +"'Oh, give me back my hair! Give me back my hair!' + +[Illustration: Mrs. Pussy Cat in Style.] + +"Of course that couldn't be done, because she had to wait for it to grow +again; but Mrs. Man on the next farm wrapped her up in an old shawl, and +she had to stay in a basket until her hair grew, else she'd have frozen +to death, for we had a terrible hard winter that season. When the hair +did come out it was uneven, of course, and she was the worst looking cat +you ever saw. + +"Mr. Man was shaving the first morning Mrs. Pussy Cat came out of the +basket, and he hadn't seen her since she had been to the barber's. + +[Illustration: Mr. Man is Disturbed.] + +"She jumped up on a chair by the side of him, thinking he would stroke +her fur as he always used to do, when the poor man got one glimpse of +her, and it nearly scared him into hysterics. I suppose he thought it +was a ghost, or something like that, for she looked bad enough to be +almost anything. + +"He gave a yell, and jumped in the air. That scared Mrs. Pussy Cat, and +she screamed as she leaped out of the chair. Then Mr. Man went after her +with that big razor in his hand. + +"I don't know how far he chased her; but Mr. Towser said that Mrs. Pussy +Cat ran more than five miles before she stopped, and when she sneaked +back home that night, I'm thinking she felt a good deal as Mr. Crow did +when he tried to make folks believe peacock feathers were growing in his +tail." + + + + +MR. CROW'S DECEIT. + + +"I have heard a great many stories which Mr. Crow has told; but never +one about him," your Aunt Amy interrupted. "If he tried to deceive the +other birds, I surely would like to know about it." + +"Well, he did," Mrs. Mouser Cat said emphatically, sitting bolt upright; +"but of course he doesn't like to have the story told, so I had rather +you wouldn't let him know I mentioned it. + +"I don't know how he happened to get it into his head to do such a +thing, for, as a rule, he spends the most of his time over in the big +tree telling stories or making poetry; but he grew foolish once, and +whenever anybody came where he was, he said he had strange growing +feathers, and the doctor believed he was turning into a peacock. + +"Of course that made a good deal of excitement around here, among all of +us, for it would be a strange thing for a crow to change in that way, +and he had twice as many visitors as he ever had before, all wanting to +know about the new feathers. + +"Well, of course he couldn't keep saying that they were coming, and not +show any signs of them, so one day he said he felt terribly sick and +guessed he should go into the hospital. Then we didn't see anything of +him for most a week, until little Redder Squirrel came around and said +Mr. Crow was all right; that he had as many as six peacock feathers +growing right out of his tail. + +"Well, now, you can believe we were astonished, and more excited over it +than we had been since young Mr. Thomas Cat painted the canary yellow. +Of course we asked Redder Squirrel where we could see him, and he said +Mr. Crow had agreed to come out on the hill, just under the tree, that +afternoon. + +"If we animals around here were anxious to see him, you can guess that +the peacocks were just about wild, and when the time came for Mr. Crow +to show himself, all the peacocks for as many as five miles around were +gathered under the big tree. Mr. Crow didn't know anything about their +coming, until he marched right out in the midst of them. + +[Illustration: Mr. Crow showing his new feathers to the peacocks.] + +"Now Mr. Crow is really a wise bird, and how it happened that he was so +foolish as to do what he did, beats me. Anybody with half an eye could +see that he had simply stuck these feathers in his tail, and was trying +to make us believe they had grown there. If he had stayed on the tree +where we couldn't get very near him, there might have been some chance +of deceiving us; but there he was right down where we could put our paws +on him if we wanted to. And the peacocks! Angry? Oh me, oh my, don't say +a word! + +"One big one reached over with his beak, and pulled a feather from Mr. +Crow's tail. + +"'The next time you set yourself up for one of us, it would be a good +idea to tie the feathers in, else they may drop out, as this one has,' +the peacock said, and I expected to see Mr. Crow almost faint away with +shame. But bless you, he never thought of doing anything of that kind. +He took the feather as bold as a lion, looked at the end of it, and then +he said, careless-like: + +"'Well, I declare! I guess I must be moulting,' and with that, off he +flew. We didn't see him again for as much as two weeks, and then he +agreed not to write any poetry about us if we wouldn't tell the story of +the feathers; but young Mr. Thomas Cat couldn't hold in, and reported it +far and near, till Mr. Crow paid him back in good shape." + + + + +WHEN YOUNG THOMAS CAT PAINTED A CANARY. + + +"But what about painting a canary?" your Aunt Amy asked. "You spoke of +such a thing a moment ago." + +"Yes, and it is what I am telling you about. Mr. Crow wrote the poetry +which tells the story, and you shall hear it." + +Then Mrs. Mouser Cat repeated the following: + + For he was such a knowing puss-- + Oh yes, he was! + A really clever, sharp young puss-- + Oh yes, he was! + He wouldn't do as others do, + He said, "I know a thing or two, + _I_ do! + + "To-morrow is the great bird show-- + I think it is; + The far-renowned canary show-- + Of course it is. + Some yellow ochre, so I've heard, + Will wondrously improve a bird, + I've heard + +[Illustration: Thomas Cat Paints the Canary] + + "I think I'll enter at that show-- + I think I will, + Just make one entry for that show-- + By Jove, I will. + And if my bird don't get the prize, + Why it will be, as I surmise, + A surprise!" + + The show was held--a great success-- + Of course it was! + By all 'twas called a huge success-- + Indeed it was! + The judges were experienced cats; + They wore tail-coats, and large top-hats-- + _Such_ hats! + + Young Tom was there--he'd brought his bird-- + Just think! he had! + He'd really dared to bring that bird-- + Oh yes, he had! + He said, "No one will ever know + That my canary's all no go, + Oh no!" + +[Illustration: The Spry Old Judge] + + But one old judge was rather spry-- + Oh yes, he was! + You'd not have thought him half so spry, + But oh, he was! + He said, "Why really, on my word! + Disqualify that shocking bird!-- + Absurd!" + + So Tom's bird was disqualified-- + Of course it was! + Disgracefully disqualified, + Ah yes, it was! + And Tom, although he thought he knew + A thing or two, found others too + Who knew. + +"Mr. Thomas must have believed that honesty was the best policy, before +he got through with the bird show," your Aunt Amy suggested, and Mrs. +Mouser Cat laughed as she replied: + +"It would have shamed almost any cat; but it didn't seem to make a bit +of difference with young Thomas. He was just as pert as ever the next +day, and went around telling about the prize he would have taken if the +judge hadn't discovered the fraud. It would have served him right if he +had been punished as was Mr. Fox." + + + + +WHEN MR. FOX WAS TOO CUNNING. + + +"Is that another story?" your Aunt Amy asked. + +"Yes, it is," Mrs. Mouser said reflectively, "and it shows that there +are times when even a fox can be too cunning. One day while Mr. Fox, who +used to live down in the swamp, was sneaking around behind the barn on +this farm, he saw a bag hanging on the limb of a tree just over the +water barrel. + +"'Now I wonder what that is?' he said to himself, as he stopped and +looked first at the bag and then at the barrel. 'It smells good, and I +believe there's meat somewhere around here.' + +[Illustration: Mr. Fox Hits Upon a Plan.] + +"Then he climbed upon the barrel, and saw that it was half full of +water, so he began to wonder what the meaning of it was. + +"'It must be a trap Mr. Man has set for me,' he said rubbing his ear as +if he thought himself very wise. 'He thinks I'll jump up for the bag, +and fall into the water. Now he's got to find a younger fox than I am, +if he wants to make that plan work, for I'm going to know what's hanging +up there, and I won't take any chances of getting drowned, either, +because I'll drink all the water first. Then that will settle it.' + +"Well, he began to drink, and drink, and drink, until he swelled up +amazingly; but there was plenty of water still left in the barrel. Then +he drank some more; ran around a few moments, came back and drank again, +until he was all swelled out, and couldn't swallow another drop; but the +barrel appeared to be as full as when he commenced. + +"By this time it wasn't possible for him to run the least little bit, +and he was feeling a good deal as his father did after he had found the +crab, when along came Mr. Man, who said: + +"'Hello! here's a nice fat fox! I guess I'll take his skin,' and the +next day, lo and behold, there was Mr. Fox's hide nailed up on the barn, +showing that sometimes it is dangerous to be too cunning." + + + + +WHEN SONNY BUNNY RABBIT WAS RASH. + + +"I never saw an animal who didn't get into trouble when he thought he +knew everything," Mrs. Mouser went on thoughtfully, giving no heed to +the fact that your Aunt Amy was on the point of interrupting her. "Now +there is Sonny Bunny Rabbit, he got it into his head that he was the +greatest ever lived; that he could do just as he wanted to around this +neighborhood, because he led Mr. Fox into a trap one day. + +"Why, that foolish little rabbit used to sit out in the field at night, +and tell me, who am old enough to be his grandmother at the very least, +that he could do anything he pleased; that there was no animal around +here who could get the best of him. + +"Well, Sonny Bunny kept that idea in his mind, and one day Mr. Hawk came +sailing along just when Sonny Bunny was talking with Redder Squirrel, +and Redder he screamed: + +"'Run, Sonny Bunny! Run for your life!' + +"'You don't catch me running away from any old hawk,' Sonny Bunny said, +as bold as a lion. 'I'm going to stay right here, and kick dirt in his +face if he comes where I am.' + +"'Run, Sonny Bunny, run!' Redder Squirrel cried, and for once he showed +more sense than usual. + +"But Sonny Bunny was so puffed up with what he thought he could do, that +he stood still, and got ready to kick dirt, while old Mr. Hawk came +sailing round, and round, and round, making ready to light on him. If +you'll believe it, that foolish rabbit stayed right there until down +came Mr. Hawk, and then, oh me, oh my, how Sonny did kick dirt! + +[Illustration: When Sonny Bunny was an Invalid.] + +"I'm willing to admit that part of his plan was all right. He blinded +Mr. Hawk, but at the same time didn't save all of his own skin, for the +old fellow's claws went into Sonny Bunny's back so far, as his mother +told me, that you could almost see the bones, and the foolish rabbit +laid in bed three or four weeks before he was fit to go out of doors +again." + +"It seems to me as if I had heard something like that before," your Aunt +Amy said, and Mrs. Mouser replied: + +"Very likely you've heard the same story, for all the animals around +here know about it." + +"But what was it you said about Mr. Fox's father meeting a crab?" your +Aunt Amy asked. + + + + +MR. FOX AND MISS CRAB. + + +"Well, that isn't what you might really call a story; it's only +something which happened to old Mr. Fox when he went down to the +seashore for his health, and met young Miss Crab. He had never seen +anybody of the kind, and didn't know whether she was an animal, or a +fish, or a bird. + +"'Good morning,' he said very politely, and Miss Crab answered him back +as nice as you please. + +"'Are you out for a walk?' he asked. + +"'Oh no, indeed,' she said. 'I am here taking the sea air for my health. +The doctor recommends it, but I am not allowed to move around very much +because I'm so feeble.' + +[Illustration: Old Mr. Fox trying to coax Miss Crab out of her shell.] + +"Now old Mr. Fox was puzzled. He put his paw on her shell, and it was +hard; but whether it was the house she lived in, or a part of herself, +he couldn't for the life of him tell. + +"Well, after a time he made up his mind that the shell must be her +house, so he said: + +"'Why don't you come outside where you can get purer air than you do in +there?' and she replied, just as a gull went sailing by: + +"'I don't dare to for fear some of those rude birds will eat me.' + +"That settled old Mr. Fox. He thought if the birds liked Miss Crab well +enough to eat her, she would make a good supper for him. So he began to +coax and coax her to come out, and after a long time, finding that she +would not do as he wanted, he began trying to bite the shell into +pieces. Then she caught hold of his tongue with one of her big claws, +and bit as much as an inch and a half right straight off the end of it. + +"Oh me, oh my, how old Mr. Fox did howl! I'm told that he went home in a +most dreadful rage, with the blood streaming out of his mouth, and when +his wife asked him what the matter was, he couldn't say a word, of +course not, because his tongue was gone. I don't know how long it was +before he got well; but they do say he was the most shamefaced looking +animal that was ever seen, whenever any one spoke to him about crabs, or +the seashore." + + + + +THE BABY ELEPHANT. + + +"Speaking of the seashore reminds me of another piece of Mr. Crow's +poetry, and if you can stand any more, I wish you would, because I think +this is really good." + +As a matter of course your Aunt Amy could do no less than say she would +be pleased to hear it, and Mrs. Mouser recited that which is set down +here: + + To little John Adolphus Chubb + Your kind attention I invite; + Oh, how he loves to bathe and scrub, + Each day at noon and eke at night. + + Now John Adolphus William Chubb + A fine young elephant is he; + And when he's in his little tub, + Oh, 'tis a pleasant sight to see! + + His nurse,--a motherly old thing-- + No need to coax the rogue has she; + Adolphus, when he sees her bring + The water, trumpets in his glee. + +[Illustration: Johnny Chubb.] + + Oh, how he loves the cold, cold stream + Descending on him in the tub! + He feels as if he'd like to scream-- + He loves it so--does William Chubb. + + And then, the evening's washing o'er + (Though he could wish it lasted still), + His nurse will gay, "Come, come, no more; + You've had enough now, Master Will!" + + So swift he's dried, his night-gown on, + A night-cap tied upon his head, + And to the rattle's music, + John Adolphus William goes to bed. + +[Illustration: Johnny Goes to Bed.] + +"I don't think that is very nice poetry," your Aunt Amy said when Mrs. +Mouser had come to the end of the verses. "It is too ridiculous." + +"That may be; but I have heard some of your friends, like Mr. Turtle, +for example, tell you even worse than that," and Mrs. Mouser spoke quite +sharply. "Now if you want a really pretty little story, that hasn't got +much fun in it, I can tell you one about two mice, and it must be true, +because I had it from a cat friend of mine who was on the spot." + + + + +THE STORY OF SQUEAKY MOUSE. + + +Your Aunt Amy said to Mrs. Mouser that she would be very much pleased to +hear it, and, telling the story as if she did not entirely approve of it +herself, Mrs. Mouser began: + +"Mother Mouse had two little daughters, Meeky and Squeaky. Meeky was a +good little mouse, and did everything her mother told her. Squeaky was +very brave and daring, but she was the torment of everybody's life. + +"One day Mother Mouse was too ill to go out and do her own marketing. + +"'I wish you children would go and get me a little lump of cheese,' she +moaned. + +"Away scampered the two little mice to a high shelf they knew of; their +mother had warned them against traps and cats, so they were careful not +to linger on the pantry floor. When they found the cheese, Meeky began +at once rolling up a little lump to take home to her mother, but Squeaky +filled her mouth as full as it would hold, and ran up and down the +shelf, making a great clatter. + +"'Be careful,' said her sister. 'The cat will hear you.' + +[Illustration: Squeaky sees Mrs. Cat.] + +"Squeaky looked down and saw the cat on the pantry shelf; she knew it +couldn't get up to her, and she could not resist calling: "'Peekaboo!' + +"Dear me, how Mrs. Cat glared! + +"'Oh,' said Meeky, 'how are we to get down with mother's cheese now?' + +"Squeaky said they would wait till the cat went to sleep, and pretty +soon this seemed to be the case. But Mrs. Cat was only shamming, for the +minute Squeaky reached the floor she pounced upon her, and while the +mouse was carried shrieking away, Meeky made her escape. + +"Of course, Mother Mouse and Meeky felt badly for a while, but the other +mice said it was just what might have been expected, and just what +happened to young mice who would not mind what their elders told them." + +"Don't you ever feel badly, Mrs. Mouser, when you have caught a mouse, +to think that it had a mother, and brothers and sisters, in its hole, +waiting for it to come back?" your Aunt Amy asked. + +"Why should I?" and Mrs. Cat spoke sharply. "Mice were made for cats to +eat, and even if they were not, unless I killed all I could, Mr. Man's +house would be over-run with them." + + + + +A SAUCY MOUSE. + + +"Of course I can't do very much in the daytime, because they don't come +out of their holes; but I work all night, and it would surprise you to +know how many there are in the house, I don't kill off a tenth part of +them, and they seem to think they have more rights here than I have. + +"Why, it is only last week that I happened to look up on the broad shelf +in the dining-room closet, and there were six mice, sitting around as +bold as you please. Five ran for their lives the minute they saw me; but +what do you think the other one did? Why, he sat on his tail with his +paws behind him, and actually scolded because I had come around there. + +[Illustration: Mr. Mouse is angry.] + +"I really believe the foolish creature thought he could frighten me, for +he kept right on scolding and sputtering until I got my paw on his neck, +and of course that settled him. I left him a good deal worse off than +Mrs. Lioness did Mr. Rat, when she wanted to play with him." + + + + +FATAL SPORT. + + +"That must be a new story," your Aunt Amy said, and Mrs. Mouser looked +surprised as she replied: + +"Well, well, I don't understand what all the animals around here have +talked about! This is the third or fourth very old story that you +haven't heard, and when I came in here to visit this afternoon, I had an +idea that everything I might offer to tell, you had heard from some of +the others." + +"Suppose you tell me what Mrs. Lioness did to Mr. Rat?" your Aunt Amy +suggested, and Mrs. Mouser began: + +"Once upon a time--you can see from the beginning how old this story +is--Mr. Rat ate his way into the place where they keep animals to show +them off--a Zoological Garden, I believe Mr. Man calls it. Well, after +Mr. Rat got in he found a Mrs. Lion who was all alone, and feeling as +though she really needed company. She was just as kind to Mr. Rat as she +could be, and asked him why he didn't make his home there with her. + +"'I would like to,' Mr. Rat said, 'for you seem to be a very nice kind +of a Mrs. Lion; but when Mr. Man, who owns this place, comes along, he +will kill me if he can.' + +"'I would like to see Mr. Man try to hurt any one who was visiting me!' +Mrs. Lion said sharply, as she held up her paw. 'Do you see that? I +could kill Mr. Man with it in a minute if I struck him.' + +"As she spoke she laid her paw on Mr. Rat in play, just to show him what +she could do, and the 'play' was so rough that the breath of life was +squeezed out of Mr. Rat in a jiffy. + +"Now you might have supposed that Mrs. Lion would feel badly because she +had killed Mr. Rat without meaning to; but instead of that she said, +looking at his body: + +"'What a poor kind of a creature he must be, when he allows himself to +be killed with what was no more than a love pat!' + +"And a little mouse, who was sitting in a hole in the wall, having seen +all that happened, squeaked with a nervous snicker: + +"'A lion's sport is altogether too strenuous for such as us, and if Mr. +Rat had been wise, he would have kept well outside the cage, fearing +your play even more than your anger.' + +[Illustration: "What a poor creature Mr. Rat is to be killed with a love +pat, said Mrs. Lion.] + +"'It seems to me he was a wise little mouse,' your Aunt Amy said, and +Mrs. Mouser replied with a sneer: + +"He was a good deal like many others I know of, exceeding wise after +they have seen the result of another's folly. But it seems to me that we +are talking altogether too much about mice." + + + + +A CAT'S DREAM. + + +"I have been wanting to repeat to you what I call some very nice poetry, +which Mr. Crow made about a dream of mine. It is really the best thing +he ever wrote, and although I the same as promised not to ask you to +listen to anything more of his, I am very anxious for you to hear it." + +"Don't think that I object so severely to what Mr. Crow writes," your +Aunt Amy replied. "I have heard a number of things he wrote which I +thought were very good indeed." + +Then Mrs. Mouser Cat repeated the following: + + Kitty cat, kitty cat, asleep on the rug, + With velvet paws beneath your head nice and snug, + What are you dreaming of? What do you think + When out slips your little tongue so soft and pink? + + When you flick your ears, and your whiskers quiver so, + And you give an eager cry like a whisper low; + When your tail pats the rug so intent, and you seem + Just ready for a spring, tell me what do you dream? + +[Illustration: When Mrs. Mouser Dreams.] + + "Oh, I have a fairy-land I visit in my sleep, + Where the mice don't expect me and are playing bo-peep; + Down I pounce upon them, they are not so quick as I, + And I smile as I regale myself upon a mouse pie; + + "There are pantries where the pans of milk are brimming o'er, + Where I lap the rich cream and spill no drop upon the floor; + Loveliest custards, daintiest bits of fragrant cheese; + And I help myself without a word as often as I please. + + "Then I walk along the fences and I grandly wave my tail; + My whiskers are so fierce all the other cats turn pale; + When Pug and Towser eye me, suspiciously, I know, + I give a spring upon them and off in fright they go. + + "And in my pretty fairy-land no cruel boys appear; + Only black eats and white cats, and purrs and mews to hear. + And these are what my visions are, oh little mistress sweet; + Sure any cat would need to smile asleep here at your feet." + +[Illustration: A Cat's Dreamland.] + +"Now I really think that is good, Mrs. Mouser," and your Aunt Amy spoke +no more than the truth. "I don't seriously object to Mr. Crow's nonsense +verses; but at the same time I never really enjoy them." + + + + +BLOOD RELATIONS. + + +"Of course there's a difference in tastes," Mrs. Mouser said +thoughtfully. "Some of the things which Bunny Rabbit thinks are good, I +don't like at all, and perhaps he objects to what I believe is very +fine. Now here is a story Mr. Crow has got about Mr. Man's boy Tommy. +Mamma Speckle thinks there was nothing like it ever told. He says that +Tommy Man, one night after he had been tucked up in his crib, was +awakened by a strange, humming, buzzing sound close to his head, and +when he got out the sand that the 'sand-man' had put in his eyes, he +stared about him. There on the bottom of the bed was a fearful +hobgoblin, so Tommy Man thought, with big round eyes, awfully long legs +and wings, and a beak that looked like a trooper's sword. + +"'Are you one of those angels that my mamma said took care of little +boys at night?' asked Tommy Man, trembling.' 'Cause if you are I guess I +can get along by myself all right; you needn't stay.' + +"But the mosquito made a jab with his bill at the bed-clothes over +Tommy's chin, and said, loudly: + +"'Cousin-n-n-n-n, Cousin-n-n-n.' + +"'Oh, you're a cousin, are you? I wonder which one?' + +"'Z-z-i-m m-m,' answered the mosquito, buzzing about Tommy Man's head. + +[Illustration: The Unexpected Visitor.] + +"'Zim? Oh, I guess you must be that soldier cousin of mother's by the +looks of the sword you carry; his name was Jim.' + +"'Cousin-n-n-n-n!' buzzed the mosquito sharply. 'Don't you know your own +relations?' + +"'You my relation?' Tommy asked in amazement. 'How do you make that +out?' + +"'Oh, easy. Relations are those who have the same blood in them, ain't +they?' + +"'Yes,' assented Tommy. + +"'Well, you and I have the same blood. You had it, and now I've got it. +I just tapped you, you know.' + +"Tommy didn't know anything of the kind, and he was terribly frightened, +so he just covered up his head, and trembled until Mr. Mosquito flew +away." + +"Those are what I call nonsense stories," your Aunt Amy said when Mrs. +Mouser ceased speaking, and she replied quite sharply: + +"Of course they are, and that is about all the animals on this farm +know." + +"I am certain you make a mistake, Mrs. Mouser Cat, for you have told me +several this afternoon which teach a good lesson," your Aunt Amy said, +and for a moment it seemed very much as if Mrs. Mouser was angry, but +her face brightened an instant later, as she cried: + +"I've got the very story for you, although it's about a mouse, and I +don't really believe in talking of them so much, for it makes it appear +as if they were of great importance, when all they are fit for is to +furnish food for us cats. + +"Once upon a time there was a miller who lived in his mill, and on a +certain morning, when he was opening the sacks of grain, out hopped a +little mouse. + +"'Oh, wife, wife!' he cried as if he had seen some horrible animal. +'Bring me the butcher knife so that I can kill this mouse!' + +"But the little mouse put her paws together and begged for her life. She +promised to keep the mill free from mice if the miller would spare her +life. Well, after a good deal of talk the miller agreed that she should +be allowed to live in the mill, and for a whole month she kept her word +so well that not even a mouse's tail was seen anywhere around the place. +Then, one morning the miller heard a faint squeaking, and he cried out +angrily: + +"'What's this, Mrs. Mouse? You have forgotten your promise, and let in +some of your friends.' + +"No,' answered the little mouse, 'I have kept my promise. Those are my +three babies, who were born last night,' and she led the way proudly to +her nest, where the three squirming little mouse babies lay. + +"'So this is the way you keep your word, is it?' the miller cried +angrily. 'You promised to drive all other mice away from this mill, and +here are three who have come to get their living from me!' + +"Then he picked up the babies and threw them into the river. Oh, but the +little mouse was angry! Yet she was only a mouse, and he was a man, so +she said nothing; but after that, whenever she got a chance, she gnawed +and gnawed and gnawed at the outer post of the mill, sometimes working +the whole night long. + +"Then came a big storm, and the river rose very high; the posts which +were half gnawed through, broke, and the mill fell over into the river. + +"'Save me! Save me!' shouted the miller as the swiftly-running current +carried him down the stream. + +"'I am sending you to find my lost babies,' squeaked the little mouse as +she ran to and fro on the bank. + +"There's a good lesson in that story, if you know how to find it," Mrs. +Mouser said as she curled herself into a little ball near the fireplace, +much as though she had come to an end of her story-telling; but just at +that moment a mouse showed his nose in one corner of the room. + +In an instant Mrs. Mouser Cat was on her feet looking as if she had +never thought of such a thing as taking a nap, and in a very few seconds +she had the mouse in her claws. + +[Illustration: Mrs. Mouser Cat Catches a Mouse.] + +"I guess this breaks up my visit," she said, going toward the door. "I +must give the kittens a chance to learn how a mouse should be caught, +and it isn't likely I'll have time to come back here this afternoon." + +Then Mrs. Mouser Cat disappeared through the half-opened door, and your +Aunt Amy was left alone, wondering which, of all the animals on the +farm, would be the next to provide her with an afternoon's +entertainment. + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mouser Cats' Story, by Amy Prentice + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOUSER CATS' STORY *** + +This file should be named mousr10.txt or mousr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, mousr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, mousr10a.txt + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Tonya Allen +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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