Geraldine Mockler

“ I wonder how any mouse could think of being so unkind to another mouse!"
But none of Miss Patty Grey-Fur's guests answered. For their three mouths were so full of corn that they could not speak.
They all thought that the barn was quite one of the nicest places they had ever seen in all their lives. It was filled with corn from top to bottom, and there was enough in it, so at least Fuzz thought, to feed hundreds of mice for hundreds of years. And the little thin house-mouse ate more than either Fuzz or Buzz, for though they had been hungry he had been almost starving. ”

“ Two such tender, fat young field-mice as you are don't come his way every night, and would be a rare treat for him."
But as neither Fuzz nor Buzz wished to be a rare treat for anybody, at least not in that way, they looked at one another, and a cold shiver ran down their backs. Fuzz was the first to feel brave again, or at least to pretend that he felt brave, and he said to the water-rat:
"But owls never come out in the daytime, they only fly about at night." ”

“ And the rat suddenly swam about two or three yards in front of the raft, and made such a loud splashing with his paws and his tail that the owl could not help seeing him. In a moment he swooped down upon the water, and Buzz and Fuzz squeaked with terror. For they thought that their friend must have been caught. ”

“ Brownie, the mother mouse, and their two children, a boy-mouse and a girl-mouse, whose names were Fuzz and Buzz.
In the summer, and in the spring and autumn too, field-mice have a very nice time indeed; but in the winter, when the ground is frozen, and the nuts and acorns and berries are gone from the trees and bushes, their life is not quite so happy. And then, if the father-mouse has not laid in a good store of food they have not enough to eat, and are often very hungry until the spring comes round again. ”

“ As for the mice, they were trembling so much at the narrow escape they had had, that it was some time before they could thank Fuzz and Buzz for having let them in.
Then they all ran away from the door and right down into the middle of the barn, for the cat had put her paw through the hole and was trying to catch them. But when she found that her claws touched nothing but the air, she climbed down from the roof and began to scold Rags for having sent her on a wild-goose chase. Though why she should call the five mice wild geese she did not even know herself. ”

“ But when Fuzz told her of the meeting that had just been held down in the yard, she opened her door at once and let them all three in. Her face was quite pale with fright.
"You may have as much corn as ever you like, all of you," she said. "You have saved my life. I am so fond of toasted cheese, that if I had smelt it I am sure I should have darted outside, and then they could easily have pushed me down from the roof. ”

“ So, helped by Miss Patty Grey-Fur and by the house-mouse and by the five other mice, Fuzz and Buzz filled the bag to the top, and then they dragged it out to the gutter, where the pigeon was waiting for them with an end of tallow-candle in his beak.
"You mice are fond of candles, aren't you?" ”

“ As they had no wish to be carried down by it to the sea, they stood up on their little hind legs, so as to be ready to catch hold of the first branch that came within their reach. And a minute or two later they were both clinging to the branch of a weeping-willow tree, and, running along it, they soon reached the bank, from which they watched the little piece of wood which had carried them so far and so well floating on without them. ”

“ This is not at all a safe place for field-mice. There are dogs, and cats too, in the yard. Besides, there are a great many children, and if they saw you they would be sure to want to catch you and put you in a cage and keep you as a pet. How would you like that?"
"We should not like it at all, Aunt Patty," Fuzz said; "so if you will let us come inside the barn we shall feel much safer. And then tomorrow, when we have got enough corn, we will go home again."
"I shall do nothing of the sort," said Miss Patty Grey-Fur ”