She had allowed her four
little daughters to stay up for a while and see
part of the fun if they would promise to be good.
little daughters to stay up for a while and see
part of the fun if they would promise to be good.
Childrens - Brownies
(277)
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? 278 The Dance in the Woods.
time in arraying her son in one just like it. So it
went on, and these rival babies grew strong and
hearty, caring not at all for the jealousies of their
mothers, but spending many happy hours together
in play.
One day the two mothers and the two babies
met together in the woods. The youngsters played
haj)pily together, while the mothers sat on a fallen
log and chatted. Finally Mother Bear declared
that her son was the taller. Mother Fox said that
could not be the case, for she knew that honor be-
longed to Foxy. So the little folks were called
and made to stand up and be measured, but it did
no good, for each mother claimed that her son was
the taller. At last they decided to leave the mat-
ter to some friends that happened to be passing,
and they decided that there was no difference be-
tween them. This did not satisfy the mothers, and
each one thought that the honor belonged to them.
The Dance in the Woods.
It was spring, and the butterflies now began to
emerge from the warm, soft covering in which
they had been folded. They were the pictures of
graceful beauty as they flitted here and there from
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? The Dance in the Woods.
279
flower to flower. The flowers nodded to them
and gave them their sweetest juices to drink. The
birds watched them one morning as they danced
merrily on the green grass, still sparkling with the
early dew.
'' It seems to me/^ said a young raven, '^ that
if the butterfly can whirl so gracefully on his tiny
legs, we also might learn to perform this most de-
lightful accomplishment. ''
The raven prided himself upon his shiny black
coat, and it is likely he thought this a good chance
of showing off" before his friends.
" Let's try it once," said the stork, who was out
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? 280
The Dance in the Woods.
for a stroll and had stopped to watch the merry
butterflies.
" We will dance together,'* said the raven. So
tne stork threw his long bill over the raven's
shoulder, and wing to wing they whirled around,
not pictures of grace, however, for they moved
very, very awkwardly.
The eagle, gazing from his lofty nest, saw the
antics of the pair and laughed merrily to himself.
" I'll fly down and get nearer the fun," said he.
Down he came, and meeting a plump, white goose,
ne told him of the performance and asked him to
come along and see it. The goose had hard work
to keep up with the eagle, who walked along with
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? The Dance in the Woods.
281
great rapid strides. The dancers soon grew tired,
but not discouraged, and so, after resting their
weary legs and gaining once more their breath,
they went at it again.
By this time quite a crowd of birds of one sort
or another had perched themselves on trees and
bushes, for such a sight as two birds dancing to-
gether was new and strange in the woods of Fly-
away.
A little blue jay, who sat swinging on a bough
of a young cherry tree, thought if it were such
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? 282 The Surprise Party.
fun to watch the stork and the raven, how much
more fun it would be to trip it with them. So
down he flew and commenced spinning around and
around. This movement on the part of the jay
put the hawk in the notion, and she also joined
the dancers. The dodo and the crane were the
next to fall in, and before very long couple after
couple were hopping around enjoying the lively
reel.
THe Surprise Party.
Dear me, did no one tell you ahoiit the party ?
It was a perfect success all through. That funny
little turtle that lives in the swamp back of the
hedgehog's got it up. One morning he arose
bright and early, did his work as quickly as pos-
sible, and then started around to his friend's, the
porcupine, to make him a visit. " Do you know,''
said the turtle, after a while, " I've been thinking
how pleasant it would be to get up a surprise party
for our neighbor, Mr. Bruin. "
"The very thing," replied the porcupine, "if
you are willing to invite the people. "
"I'll be glad to do it," answered the turtle.
The turtle would not stay to dinner, although the
porcupine invited him, and that very afternoon he
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? The Surprise Party.
'2SZ
started off to invite the guests. The following
Monday was selected, and everybody was charged
not to let the news reach the ears of Mrs. Bruin.
'^t^^^M^^^^&S
^^'tfj cox'^^^^^,
Monday came bright and clear, and about eight
o'clock all the guests met at the weeping willow
tree and started off together. They looked very
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? 284
The Surprise Party.
funny as they marched along, each one carrying
his basket on his arm. These baskets were care-
fully guarded, for therein were hidden all sorts of
dainties for the feast to be given during the even-
ing. When they reached the house, Jedekiah Fox
knocked at the door, and instead of opening it Mr.
Bruin popped his head out of the window. You
never saw anybody so surprised in your life. But
what lots of fun they did have after they had gone
in and put down their baskets ! The bear was so
glad to see them that he consented to show them
how he used to dance when he travelled around
with Prof. Trix. So he took his cane in his hand
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? The Raid of the Rats. 286
and performed many queer antics, which were ex-
ceedingly amusing to the whole company. They
were all so happy and time passed so pleasantly
that the wee, small hours of the morning dawned
before the party broke up. They all agreed that
the turtle deserved much pmise for the fine time
he had been the means of affording them, and de-
cided to arrange a surprise party for him some
day.
The Raid of the Rats.
There was once a man named Nathan Brown,
who kept the " Silver Lake Mill. '' The mill had
been so named on account of the beautiful stream
of water upon whose banks it was built. This
water as it flowed on and on, day after day, turned
the great wheel and ground the wheat that the
farmers brought to Nathan to be made into flour.
Nathan was a big, fat, red -cheeked fellow, who
loved nothing better than a chat with his neigh-
bors, and while the mill wheel kept busily and
steadily turning the dusty miller kept up a merry
chattering:.
One day Nathan looked very solemn, and the
farmer who had come with his bag of wheat won-
dered what had happened. He asked uo ques-
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? 286
The Raid of the Rats.
lions, for he knew that in time the miller would
tell him. When Nathan had emptied the wheat
into the hopper he sat down beside the farmer and
began to talk. '' Do you know," said he, ^' there
is something carrying off my wheat, and what it
is I don't know, but I have my suspicions that it
is the rats. I have about made up my mind to
set traps and see if I can in that way discover who
the thieves may be. "
Kow it happened that the rats were the doeis
of all the mischief, and it also happened that one
of them, who had taken a nap on a beam, wakened
in time to h^ar what the miller said.
"Traps? ' thought he, *'that ends the fun for
us. We will carry off all we can to-night, and
then get away from this place. " Just as soon as
old Ratty could leave without being seen he hur-
ried off to tell the rest of the rats the news he had
heard. They all agreed that they must get away
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? The Raid of the Rats.
287
as soon as possible, but, like him, they wanted one
more night of fun.
When night came a big crowd had gathered.
They had merry times chasing one another, in and
out among the bags, and crawling up them and
sliding; down af! :ain.
*' I have an idea," said one of the rats ; " I think
if we tried we miglit manage to carry away one of
those small bags of flour. We could hide it in
the wagon house and have a merry time with it. "
" That's a splendid idea," cried they all ; " we
can do it if we try. "
One of the smallest bags was selected, and all
went to work, and they did work. It was not
easy to lift the sack up on their shoulders, nor to
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? 288 The Back Yard Party.
keep it there. One failure followed another, but
these little fellows would not give up, and they
tried and tried again, until at last success rewarded
their efforts, and they started to the wagon house.
Now the shortest road to the wagon house was
by way of the ledge outside of the large mill door.
They crept along, carefully balancing the sack,
when all at once the bag slipped, and over all of
them went down into the stream below. The flour
was forgotten, and each one's mightiest effort was
devoted to saving himself. They had a good hard
pull, but at last all stood shivering and shaking on
the bank, the sorriest looking crowd of rats you
ever saw. They got together a lot of sticks and
leaves and built a fire, and soon looked quite them-
selves again -- but the flour was gone, and all
agreed that they had paid very dearly for their fun.
The Back Yard Party.
Mrs. Mouse laid down her pen and breathed a
sigh of relief. She had been busily at work
getting out invitations for a grand garden party in
the back yard, and now she had finished* The
field mice, the mice at the barn and wagon iiousc,
and, of course, the house mice, all were invited.
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? The Back Yard Party.
289
Mrs. Mouse hoped that everything might be
pleasant. The mice at the house were rather in-
clined to hold themselves a little above the field
mice, why she could not tell, for she was quite
sure one family was as good as the other, and she
had no wish to slight either.
Mrs. Mouse felt all of a flutter when the night
of the party arrived.
She had allowed her four
little daughters to stay up for a while and see
part of the fun if they would promise to be good.
Very nice and proper they looked standing side by
iyde with their little arms folded. The first to
arrive was the mouse who lived in ilie parlor cup-
board. She was very grand, indeed, in her kigh-
19
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? 290
The Back Yard Party.
topped bonnet. Grandmother Skipper and her
youngest grandchild came next, and after them
came Lady Newly- Wed and her husband. On
they came, one after the other, until quite a large,
merry crowd had gathered in the back yard. The
young mice wanted to dance, so partners were
chosen, and the merry whirlers went spinning
round and round until they were almost ready to
drop.
Billy Nibble and Patty Pry grew tired of danc-
ing and seated themselves on top of the gate.
Tucker Gray saw them, and he feU jealous, for he
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? The Back Yard Party.
291
had a great fondness for little Patty and did all in
his power to coax her away from Billy, but she
would not come. Then Tucker went off and de-
voted himself to Polly Pruin. Polly was charmed,
^^^r-
W^^^
---
^^^^^'^^^^^^^
? p^\ ^ --
^
for she had been sitting all alone, waving her new
turkey feather fan. But all at once the fun was
brought to a close, the house door w^as throw^n
open, and out stole old Tom, the big, black cat.
Such a scapering you never saw, and no one
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? 292 Bruin's Singing School.
stopped until he had safely reached his home. It
was a shame that they should be so rudely dis-
turbed in the midst of their fun, for they were
having a very gay time all by themselves, and
they are such cute and cunning little things that
we like to see them enjoy themselves.
Bruin's Singing School.
You will really be quite surprised when I tell
you how Uncle Bear started the singing school at
Matchless Hollow. It happened in this way.
One real cold winter night, when the snow lay on
the ground like a great white blanket, quite a
number of young people made up a sleighing
paiiy. It was the first sleighing of the winter,
and everybody was extremely anxious to go.
What lots of fun they had as they sped over
the hard, white crust ! After a while some of the.
folks began holding their ears and rubbing their
hands together in a manner that showed they were
far from warm. "Wouldn't it be jolly," some
one called out, " to stop at Uncle Bear's. " " Oh,
do," came from all sides. It did not take them
long to reach the home of the Bears, but it did
take some time to rouse the old folks from the
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? Bruin's Singing School.
293
sound sleep into which they had fallen. Both the
old people seemed glad to see their young friends,
and the warm fire soon sent the blood tingling
through their young bodies. " Won't you give us
a song," said Auntie Bear, " Uncle and I are so
fond of music. ^^ It took them some time to get
started, but after a while they began, and they
sung very merrily. One song after another was
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? 294 Bruin's Singing School.
sung, and then Uncle Bear asked them why they
did not have a singing school. He was willing to
lead them, he said, for he did not think he had
forgotten all he had learned when he was young.
Everybody was delighted, and an evening was set
for the following week. With many thanks for
the kind reception they had received, the young
people started off, singing a farewell song as they
gathered together out in the moonlight.
They wanted everybody to know about this
singing school they were to have every Tuesday
evening in the Hollow, so on their way home they
arranged to get Bonny Bun, the white rabbit, to
carry invitations to all the dwellers of the forest.
This he could do very easily, for he wore a pair of
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? Bruin's Singing School. 295
snow-shoes which helped him to get over the
ground very quickly. Everybody was invited,
even to the birds, and such a crowd as gathered in
the Hollow was enough to fill Uncle Bear's heart
with delight. He arranged them in a circle and
began to sing, starting out with a familiar song
about the hunter and his gun. After one or two
songs he said they must settle down to business.
He said they had better put all their time for this
one evening on the scale, so he made each one sing
it alone, then altogether, while he stood beating
time with his soft, fat hand. Then he told the
animals to keep quiet and listen to a quintette of
birds that were perched on a nearby tree. These
birds sang a very beautiful song that made the
woods ring with melody.
Indeed, it was so very beautiful that the other
animals were almost afraid to try their voices after-
ward. However, they all did the best they could
to follow the instructions of their leader.
When the hour for closing came they all agreed
that they had spent a very pleasant evening, and
voted to come again the next week. This was the
beginning of a singing school, the like of which
had not been known in many years. The singing
shool proved to be a very popular thing, and be-
fore the winter was over there were hundreds of
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? 296
Adventures of the Mice.
the young folks of the forest attending it. The
greatest part of the fun was the going and coming,
and this was especially delightful to the young
lovers, and in the spring there were many wed-
dings as a result.
Adventures of the Mice.
Night had come, and the Nibble Family had
all returned to their home in the front cellar. By
and by some of the neighbors dropped in, until
quite a party had gotten together.
'' We had a feast,"
said Lady Nibble, " but
no danger attended it.
We found a whole
cheese on the pantry
shelf with not a sign
of a cover over it. It
would have been folly
to miss such a chance
as this, so we went to
work and ate until we
could hardly move. If it is not carried off we
hope to have another feast to-morrow. "
" Do you know, I almost lost my life to-day,"
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? Adventures of the Mice.
297
eaid a very young mouse, ^'and I'll tell you how;
I saw the most tempt-
ing piece of cheese in
the centre of a funny
red box ; so I put ray
head in to take a bite,
and, bless you, a spring
snapped down and held
me tight. I jumped
around and around
with this thing on my
head, and shook it as
hard as ever I could,
although I was nearly
choked to death, but I
could not get out. At
last, by some rare good
fortune, the wire that
held the spring broke
and set me free. It
was a narrow escape,
and it taught me a
good lesson. Never,
as long as I live, will I
venture near a trap. "
" We had quite a scare, too," spoke up one of
*)/. young Snueaks. " My brothers and I crawled
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? 298
Adventures of the Mice.
into the jail to see what we could find to eat. "We
often pick up crumbs there. Well, this morning
we found more than crumbs -- we had quite a fine
breakfast of cold potatoes, bread and a pitcher of
milk. We were so interested in our eating that
we did not hear a sound until a shadow made me
look up, and I saw a big yellow cat coming to-
wards us. I ran, a piece of bread still in my
mouth, and called to my brothers, and all of us
had just time enough to get out of the clutches of
that huge yellow monster. '^
"As you are all relating experiences,'' said
another mouse, " I might as well tell mine. I
strolled out in the wheat field to-day, and there on
a sheaf of wheat sat a dozen or more of our cousins,
the field mice, nibbling away at the grain. They
asked me to join them ; so I did, and I really had
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? Adventures of the Mice. 299
a very pleasant time. If you have a chance, visit
them some day. You will like them and the
grain also. ''
" Speaking of something to eat " -- this from
Bobby Nibble -- " makes me think of the egg
which three of us boys found. We found it in
the school house play ground, and we ate every bit
of it. It had been cooked, I suppose^ for some
fellow's lunch. Why he left it I don't know, but,
at any rate, we found it and had a jolly good time
with it. "
"I carried off a jam pie this afternoon," said
Tommy Scratch, "and if you will come across to
my house I will share it with you. " No one needed
a second invitation nor a bit of coaxing. Away
they all scampered, thinking that the end of the
day was to be the best part. And they enjoyed the
feast to the fullest extent, for it was not often that
they had such a treat as this. They thought Tommy
must have been very brave to dare to carry off a
whole pie. They looked upon him as sort of a
hero, and were very polite to him all through the
evening.
The little mice must have kept very late hours
that night, for all night long could be heard the
sound of their little feet as they scampered here
and there.
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? Cousin Bear's Party.
Mr. and Mrs. Bruin had received an invita-
tion to a party. One of the Bear Cousins, who
lived back of the hill, had invited them, and Mrs.
Bruin told her husband that they must not fail to
go, for it would undoubtedly be a grand affair if
the Bears gave it. As soon as possible Mr. Bruin
ordered a new suit of clothes from his tailor, a hat
from his hatter, and a pair of the most stylish
(300)
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? Cousin Bear's Party. 301
slippers from his shoemaker. These, with his fine
twisted cane, made up a very fine costume. Mrs.
Bruin immediately summoned lier dressmaker, and
together they fashioned a gorgeous crimson gown.
Her bonnet of fine white straw was lined with red,
and, to her delight, her fond husband bought her
a fine feathered fan.
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? 278 The Dance in the Woods.
time in arraying her son in one just like it. So it
went on, and these rival babies grew strong and
hearty, caring not at all for the jealousies of their
mothers, but spending many happy hours together
in play.
One day the two mothers and the two babies
met together in the woods. The youngsters played
haj)pily together, while the mothers sat on a fallen
log and chatted. Finally Mother Bear declared
that her son was the taller. Mother Fox said that
could not be the case, for she knew that honor be-
longed to Foxy. So the little folks were called
and made to stand up and be measured, but it did
no good, for each mother claimed that her son was
the taller. At last they decided to leave the mat-
ter to some friends that happened to be passing,
and they decided that there was no difference be-
tween them. This did not satisfy the mothers, and
each one thought that the honor belonged to them.
The Dance in the Woods.
It was spring, and the butterflies now began to
emerge from the warm, soft covering in which
they had been folded. They were the pictures of
graceful beauty as they flitted here and there from
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? The Dance in the Woods.
279
flower to flower. The flowers nodded to them
and gave them their sweetest juices to drink. The
birds watched them one morning as they danced
merrily on the green grass, still sparkling with the
early dew.
'' It seems to me/^ said a young raven, '^ that
if the butterfly can whirl so gracefully on his tiny
legs, we also might learn to perform this most de-
lightful accomplishment. ''
The raven prided himself upon his shiny black
coat, and it is likely he thought this a good chance
of showing off" before his friends.
" Let's try it once," said the stork, who was out
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? 280
The Dance in the Woods.
for a stroll and had stopped to watch the merry
butterflies.
" We will dance together,'* said the raven. So
tne stork threw his long bill over the raven's
shoulder, and wing to wing they whirled around,
not pictures of grace, however, for they moved
very, very awkwardly.
The eagle, gazing from his lofty nest, saw the
antics of the pair and laughed merrily to himself.
" I'll fly down and get nearer the fun," said he.
Down he came, and meeting a plump, white goose,
ne told him of the performance and asked him to
come along and see it. The goose had hard work
to keep up with the eagle, who walked along with
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? The Dance in the Woods.
281
great rapid strides. The dancers soon grew tired,
but not discouraged, and so, after resting their
weary legs and gaining once more their breath,
they went at it again.
By this time quite a crowd of birds of one sort
or another had perched themselves on trees and
bushes, for such a sight as two birds dancing to-
gether was new and strange in the woods of Fly-
away.
A little blue jay, who sat swinging on a bough
of a young cherry tree, thought if it were such
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? 282 The Surprise Party.
fun to watch the stork and the raven, how much
more fun it would be to trip it with them. So
down he flew and commenced spinning around and
around. This movement on the part of the jay
put the hawk in the notion, and she also joined
the dancers. The dodo and the crane were the
next to fall in, and before very long couple after
couple were hopping around enjoying the lively
reel.
THe Surprise Party.
Dear me, did no one tell you ahoiit the party ?
It was a perfect success all through. That funny
little turtle that lives in the swamp back of the
hedgehog's got it up. One morning he arose
bright and early, did his work as quickly as pos-
sible, and then started around to his friend's, the
porcupine, to make him a visit. " Do you know,''
said the turtle, after a while, " I've been thinking
how pleasant it would be to get up a surprise party
for our neighbor, Mr. Bruin. "
"The very thing," replied the porcupine, "if
you are willing to invite the people. "
"I'll be glad to do it," answered the turtle.
The turtle would not stay to dinner, although the
porcupine invited him, and that very afternoon he
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? The Surprise Party.
'2SZ
started off to invite the guests. The following
Monday was selected, and everybody was charged
not to let the news reach the ears of Mrs. Bruin.
'^t^^^M^^^^&S
^^'tfj cox'^^^^^,
Monday came bright and clear, and about eight
o'clock all the guests met at the weeping willow
tree and started off together. They looked very
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? 284
The Surprise Party.
funny as they marched along, each one carrying
his basket on his arm. These baskets were care-
fully guarded, for therein were hidden all sorts of
dainties for the feast to be given during the even-
ing. When they reached the house, Jedekiah Fox
knocked at the door, and instead of opening it Mr.
Bruin popped his head out of the window. You
never saw anybody so surprised in your life. But
what lots of fun they did have after they had gone
in and put down their baskets ! The bear was so
glad to see them that he consented to show them
how he used to dance when he travelled around
with Prof. Trix. So he took his cane in his hand
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? The Raid of the Rats. 286
and performed many queer antics, which were ex-
ceedingly amusing to the whole company. They
were all so happy and time passed so pleasantly
that the wee, small hours of the morning dawned
before the party broke up. They all agreed that
the turtle deserved much pmise for the fine time
he had been the means of affording them, and de-
cided to arrange a surprise party for him some
day.
The Raid of the Rats.
There was once a man named Nathan Brown,
who kept the " Silver Lake Mill. '' The mill had
been so named on account of the beautiful stream
of water upon whose banks it was built. This
water as it flowed on and on, day after day, turned
the great wheel and ground the wheat that the
farmers brought to Nathan to be made into flour.
Nathan was a big, fat, red -cheeked fellow, who
loved nothing better than a chat with his neigh-
bors, and while the mill wheel kept busily and
steadily turning the dusty miller kept up a merry
chattering:.
One day Nathan looked very solemn, and the
farmer who had come with his bag of wheat won-
dered what had happened. He asked uo ques-
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? 286
The Raid of the Rats.
lions, for he knew that in time the miller would
tell him. When Nathan had emptied the wheat
into the hopper he sat down beside the farmer and
began to talk. '' Do you know," said he, ^' there
is something carrying off my wheat, and what it
is I don't know, but I have my suspicions that it
is the rats. I have about made up my mind to
set traps and see if I can in that way discover who
the thieves may be. "
Kow it happened that the rats were the doeis
of all the mischief, and it also happened that one
of them, who had taken a nap on a beam, wakened
in time to h^ar what the miller said.
"Traps? ' thought he, *'that ends the fun for
us. We will carry off all we can to-night, and
then get away from this place. " Just as soon as
old Ratty could leave without being seen he hur-
ried off to tell the rest of the rats the news he had
heard. They all agreed that they must get away
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? The Raid of the Rats.
287
as soon as possible, but, like him, they wanted one
more night of fun.
When night came a big crowd had gathered.
They had merry times chasing one another, in and
out among the bags, and crawling up them and
sliding; down af! :ain.
*' I have an idea," said one of the rats ; " I think
if we tried we miglit manage to carry away one of
those small bags of flour. We could hide it in
the wagon house and have a merry time with it. "
" That's a splendid idea," cried they all ; " we
can do it if we try. "
One of the smallest bags was selected, and all
went to work, and they did work. It was not
easy to lift the sack up on their shoulders, nor to
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? 288 The Back Yard Party.
keep it there. One failure followed another, but
these little fellows would not give up, and they
tried and tried again, until at last success rewarded
their efforts, and they started to the wagon house.
Now the shortest road to the wagon house was
by way of the ledge outside of the large mill door.
They crept along, carefully balancing the sack,
when all at once the bag slipped, and over all of
them went down into the stream below. The flour
was forgotten, and each one's mightiest effort was
devoted to saving himself. They had a good hard
pull, but at last all stood shivering and shaking on
the bank, the sorriest looking crowd of rats you
ever saw. They got together a lot of sticks and
leaves and built a fire, and soon looked quite them-
selves again -- but the flour was gone, and all
agreed that they had paid very dearly for their fun.
The Back Yard Party.
Mrs. Mouse laid down her pen and breathed a
sigh of relief. She had been busily at work
getting out invitations for a grand garden party in
the back yard, and now she had finished* The
field mice, the mice at the barn and wagon iiousc,
and, of course, the house mice, all were invited.
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? The Back Yard Party.
289
Mrs. Mouse hoped that everything might be
pleasant. The mice at the house were rather in-
clined to hold themselves a little above the field
mice, why she could not tell, for she was quite
sure one family was as good as the other, and she
had no wish to slight either.
Mrs. Mouse felt all of a flutter when the night
of the party arrived.
She had allowed her four
little daughters to stay up for a while and see
part of the fun if they would promise to be good.
Very nice and proper they looked standing side by
iyde with their little arms folded. The first to
arrive was the mouse who lived in ilie parlor cup-
board. She was very grand, indeed, in her kigh-
19
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? 290
The Back Yard Party.
topped bonnet. Grandmother Skipper and her
youngest grandchild came next, and after them
came Lady Newly- Wed and her husband. On
they came, one after the other, until quite a large,
merry crowd had gathered in the back yard. The
young mice wanted to dance, so partners were
chosen, and the merry whirlers went spinning
round and round until they were almost ready to
drop.
Billy Nibble and Patty Pry grew tired of danc-
ing and seated themselves on top of the gate.
Tucker Gray saw them, and he feU jealous, for he
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? The Back Yard Party.
291
had a great fondness for little Patty and did all in
his power to coax her away from Billy, but she
would not come. Then Tucker went off and de-
voted himself to Polly Pruin. Polly was charmed,
^^^r-
W^^^
---
^^^^^'^^^^^^^
? p^\ ^ --
^
for she had been sitting all alone, waving her new
turkey feather fan. But all at once the fun was
brought to a close, the house door w^as throw^n
open, and out stole old Tom, the big, black cat.
Such a scapering you never saw, and no one
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? 292 Bruin's Singing School.
stopped until he had safely reached his home. It
was a shame that they should be so rudely dis-
turbed in the midst of their fun, for they were
having a very gay time all by themselves, and
they are such cute and cunning little things that
we like to see them enjoy themselves.
Bruin's Singing School.
You will really be quite surprised when I tell
you how Uncle Bear started the singing school at
Matchless Hollow. It happened in this way.
One real cold winter night, when the snow lay on
the ground like a great white blanket, quite a
number of young people made up a sleighing
paiiy. It was the first sleighing of the winter,
and everybody was extremely anxious to go.
What lots of fun they had as they sped over
the hard, white crust ! After a while some of the.
folks began holding their ears and rubbing their
hands together in a manner that showed they were
far from warm. "Wouldn't it be jolly," some
one called out, " to stop at Uncle Bear's. " " Oh,
do," came from all sides. It did not take them
long to reach the home of the Bears, but it did
take some time to rouse the old folks from the
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? Bruin's Singing School.
293
sound sleep into which they had fallen. Both the
old people seemed glad to see their young friends,
and the warm fire soon sent the blood tingling
through their young bodies. " Won't you give us
a song," said Auntie Bear, " Uncle and I are so
fond of music. ^^ It took them some time to get
started, but after a while they began, and they
sung very merrily. One song after another was
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? 294 Bruin's Singing School.
sung, and then Uncle Bear asked them why they
did not have a singing school. He was willing to
lead them, he said, for he did not think he had
forgotten all he had learned when he was young.
Everybody was delighted, and an evening was set
for the following week. With many thanks for
the kind reception they had received, the young
people started off, singing a farewell song as they
gathered together out in the moonlight.
They wanted everybody to know about this
singing school they were to have every Tuesday
evening in the Hollow, so on their way home they
arranged to get Bonny Bun, the white rabbit, to
carry invitations to all the dwellers of the forest.
This he could do very easily, for he wore a pair of
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? Bruin's Singing School. 295
snow-shoes which helped him to get over the
ground very quickly. Everybody was invited,
even to the birds, and such a crowd as gathered in
the Hollow was enough to fill Uncle Bear's heart
with delight. He arranged them in a circle and
began to sing, starting out with a familiar song
about the hunter and his gun. After one or two
songs he said they must settle down to business.
He said they had better put all their time for this
one evening on the scale, so he made each one sing
it alone, then altogether, while he stood beating
time with his soft, fat hand. Then he told the
animals to keep quiet and listen to a quintette of
birds that were perched on a nearby tree. These
birds sang a very beautiful song that made the
woods ring with melody.
Indeed, it was so very beautiful that the other
animals were almost afraid to try their voices after-
ward. However, they all did the best they could
to follow the instructions of their leader.
When the hour for closing came they all agreed
that they had spent a very pleasant evening, and
voted to come again the next week. This was the
beginning of a singing school, the like of which
had not been known in many years. The singing
shool proved to be a very popular thing, and be-
fore the winter was over there were hundreds of
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? 296
Adventures of the Mice.
the young folks of the forest attending it. The
greatest part of the fun was the going and coming,
and this was especially delightful to the young
lovers, and in the spring there were many wed-
dings as a result.
Adventures of the Mice.
Night had come, and the Nibble Family had
all returned to their home in the front cellar. By
and by some of the neighbors dropped in, until
quite a party had gotten together.
'' We had a feast,"
said Lady Nibble, " but
no danger attended it.
We found a whole
cheese on the pantry
shelf with not a sign
of a cover over it. It
would have been folly
to miss such a chance
as this, so we went to
work and ate until we
could hardly move. If it is not carried off we
hope to have another feast to-morrow. "
" Do you know, I almost lost my life to-day,"
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? Adventures of the Mice.
297
eaid a very young mouse, ^'and I'll tell you how;
I saw the most tempt-
ing piece of cheese in
the centre of a funny
red box ; so I put ray
head in to take a bite,
and, bless you, a spring
snapped down and held
me tight. I jumped
around and around
with this thing on my
head, and shook it as
hard as ever I could,
although I was nearly
choked to death, but I
could not get out. At
last, by some rare good
fortune, the wire that
held the spring broke
and set me free. It
was a narrow escape,
and it taught me a
good lesson. Never,
as long as I live, will I
venture near a trap. "
" We had quite a scare, too," spoke up one of
*)/. young Snueaks. " My brothers and I crawled
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? 298
Adventures of the Mice.
into the jail to see what we could find to eat. "We
often pick up crumbs there. Well, this morning
we found more than crumbs -- we had quite a fine
breakfast of cold potatoes, bread and a pitcher of
milk. We were so interested in our eating that
we did not hear a sound until a shadow made me
look up, and I saw a big yellow cat coming to-
wards us. I ran, a piece of bread still in my
mouth, and called to my brothers, and all of us
had just time enough to get out of the clutches of
that huge yellow monster. '^
"As you are all relating experiences,'' said
another mouse, " I might as well tell mine. I
strolled out in the wheat field to-day, and there on
a sheaf of wheat sat a dozen or more of our cousins,
the field mice, nibbling away at the grain. They
asked me to join them ; so I did, and I really had
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? Adventures of the Mice. 299
a very pleasant time. If you have a chance, visit
them some day. You will like them and the
grain also. ''
" Speaking of something to eat " -- this from
Bobby Nibble -- " makes me think of the egg
which three of us boys found. We found it in
the school house play ground, and we ate every bit
of it. It had been cooked, I suppose^ for some
fellow's lunch. Why he left it I don't know, but,
at any rate, we found it and had a jolly good time
with it. "
"I carried off a jam pie this afternoon," said
Tommy Scratch, "and if you will come across to
my house I will share it with you. " No one needed
a second invitation nor a bit of coaxing. Away
they all scampered, thinking that the end of the
day was to be the best part. And they enjoyed the
feast to the fullest extent, for it was not often that
they had such a treat as this. They thought Tommy
must have been very brave to dare to carry off a
whole pie. They looked upon him as sort of a
hero, and were very polite to him all through the
evening.
The little mice must have kept very late hours
that night, for all night long could be heard the
sound of their little feet as they scampered here
and there.
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? Cousin Bear's Party.
Mr. and Mrs. Bruin had received an invita-
tion to a party. One of the Bear Cousins, who
lived back of the hill, had invited them, and Mrs.
Bruin told her husband that they must not fail to
go, for it would undoubtedly be a grand affair if
the Bears gave it. As soon as possible Mr. Bruin
ordered a new suit of clothes from his tailor, a hat
from his hatter, and a pair of the most stylish
(300)
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? Cousin Bear's Party. 301
slippers from his shoemaker. These, with his fine
twisted cane, made up a very fine costume. Mrs.
Bruin immediately summoned lier dressmaker, and
together they fashioned a gorgeous crimson gown.
Her bonnet of fine white straw was lined with red,
and, to her delight, her fond husband bought her
a fine feathered fan.
