No More Learning

The shutters were green, and in summer a rose
climbed up the sides of the house, almost cover-
ing this little dwelling place with its leaves and
dark red roses. People driving by leaned from
their carriages to take a peep at Uncle Xathan's
cottage, and they smiled, as though pleased with
the sight that had rewarded their efforts.
But now the bloom had left the rose, and the
leaves had fallen one by one, until only a few
yellow stragglers lingered.
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? A Thanksgiving Tale. 215
Uncle Nathan and Aunt Debby, as everybody
called them, lived all alone in their tiny white
house, for they had neither kith nor kin to share
it with them. Thanksgiving Day was drawing
near, and Aunt Debby was busy making pump-
kin pies, and plum pudding, frying doughnuts,
and revelling in cooking to her heart's content.
"Such a pile of stuff," thought she, "for two old
people to get rid of. Of course I shall send
some to the minister, and some to Dr. Brown,
but then there will be enough left to feed a big
family. " And this last idea set Aunt Debby to
thinking harder than ever.
When Uncle Nathan came in to his dinner,
he found his good wife with a very thoughtful
face.
"How does the poultry look, Nathan? " said
she. Uncle Nathan smiled at the question, for
the poultry fell to his care, and Aunt Debby
never bothered about it.
"What is in the air now, old wife? " said he,
somewhat surprised.
"Answer my question, and I'll tell you," she
replied.
Now was Uncle Nathan's turn to look grave.
"They are looJdn' poorly, Debby," said he,
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? 2i6 A Thanksgiving Tale.
"poorer than I ever saw 'em lookin' afore. But
there is a prime young gobbler and a duck or
two, as pretty as you'd want to see. "
'Now I'll tell you a secret. These wise fowls
had determined not to be the victims of Uncle
! N^athan's axe, and furnish somebody's Thanks-
giving dinner, so they had gone without the food
Uncle Nathan scattered for them for so long
that now they were the weakest, sickest, most
miserable looking things you could imagine.
But there was a wilful young turkey and a pair
of silly ducks, who said they had no fear of the
axe, and could keep away from it.
"That's plenty," said Aunt Debby, when she
had heard of the gobbler and two ducks. "ISTow
I'll tell you my plans. I've cooked more than
enough for us two, Xathan, and I want to ask
the Widow Love and her six children here to
Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner will do them
all good, and I calculate we will get enough
happiness out of it to last us a week.
"And my three best fowls are for poor Widow
Love and her sLx youngsters, hey? Well, I call
that a pretty good disposal to make of them,
old wife, and I guess if you can make enough
pies and puddings and cakes to fill 'em up, I
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? Fiddle-Cum-Fee . 217
can do my part with the poultry and garden
stuff. "
And so the thing was settled, and when milk-
ing was done that night, Uncle l^athan and Aunt
Debby stepped across to the widow's, to ask if
they were willing to come. To be sure they
were, and there never was a more joyful Thanks-
giving than this. They all ate till they could
hardly move, and went home tired and sleepy,
but very happy.
Fiddle-Cum-Fee.
A LONG, long time ago there was a little vil-
lage called Harmony. It lay between two tall
mountains that sheltered it from the storms and
tempests that swept over the neighboring towns.
A beautiful stream flowed into the valley below,
watering the earth and causing it to be very
fertile. The grass grew very green and beautiful
in this tiny village, and the fruit and flowers
were larger and more abundant than anywhere
around. The people loved their homes, and
spared no pains or time in making them as beau-
tiful as they possibly could.
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? 2l8
Fiddle-Cum-Fee,
But one day sorrow came to the village. Old
Fiddle-Cum-Fee had heard of the beauties of
the village of Harmony, and had left his home
some hundred miles away to visit this much-
talked-of place. Fiddle-Cum-Fee was a great
and powerful giant, feared and dreaded by all
who heard of him. He started off one morning
bright and early, so as to reach the village while
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? Fiddle-Cum-Fee. 219
tHe day was yet young, and lie could do tliis
easily, for lie wore shoes that carried him many
miles at a single stride. Most of the villagers
were seated at their tables, quietly enjoying their
morning meal, when, all of a sudden, the tables
commenced to rock, plates jumped up and down,
cups danced in the saucers, and even the houses
seemed to tremble and shake. The people looked
at each other in silence, feeling sure that an
earth-quake had come to destroy their little vil-
lage, and perhaps bring death to many of them.
Then they all rushed to their doors, and looked
out, and then hastened out of doors, and were
terrified to see the terrible giant coming through
the street. It was his great weight that was
shaking the village, and his mighty laugh, when
he saw the fear and wonder of the people,
sounded like a great clap of thunder, *'Good
people," said he, as he halted in the center of
the town, "I am Fiddle-Cum-Fee; use me well,
and I will be your friend, but use me badly, and
you will see how Fiddle-Cum-Fee can repay your
bad treatment. I am tired of my mountain
home, and need a change. Your village seems
to suit my purpose, so I am come to dwell among
you until such time as it seems best to me to go
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? 220 Fiddle- Cum- Fee.
away. I have had nothing to eat as yet this
morning, so bring on your very best meat, your
whitest bread, your choicest fowl and finest fruit,
and I will give you a show of a fine healthy
appetite. If some one will play sweet music,
the time will pass more pleasantly/' Almost
paralyzed mth fear, the people hurried away to
do his bidding, while Fiddle-Cum-Fee seated
himself under an apple tree, for no house could
possibly hold him. It seemed as though the ter-
rible monster would never get enough, and all
were kept busy satisfying his demands. Break-
fast over, Fiddle-Cum-Fee wandered back to the
mountain side to take a nap, for he felt smoth-
ered in the little village. When he was gone,
the people put their heads together, and tried to
think of some way in which they could get rid
of him, for they kncAV that they could never
supply his w^ants. Plan after plan was suggested
and discussed, and at last they decided to cook
him a great kettle full of soup. Their idea was
to prepare a fine lot of soup, place in it a drug,
the fumes of which would overpower him as he
leaned over to eat. When he became drowsy,
they intended to pitch him over into the soup,
and scald him to death. Then they w^ould put
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? Fiddle-Cum-Fee.
221
him on a raft, and set him adrift on the stream,
letting the current bear him off to sea. Some
of the kinder-hearted people could not bear to
do this cruel act, even to so great an enemy, and
so thej finally persuaded the rest to rig up a
monstrous balloon, and when he was drowsy
from the effects of the drug, they fastened him
in a basket and sent him up. Higher and higher
the balloon rose, until, finally, it was lost to
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? 222 The Back Yard Party.
sight Then suddenly they saw it appear again,
and they saw it coming nearer and nearer to
the earth. They were greatly frightened for
fear it would drop on the land, but a favoring
breeze bore it out to sea, and presently it sunk,
never to be seen again.
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 bam and wagon house,
and of course the house mice, all were invited.
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
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? The Back Yard Party. 223
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 stand-
ing side by side with their little arms folded.
The first to arrive was the mouse who lived in
the parlor cup-board. She was very grand in-
deed in her high-topped bonnet. Grandmother
Skipper and her yoimgest grandchild came next,
and after them came Lady ISTewly-^Ved 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 around until
they were almost ready to drop.
Eilly Nibble and Patty Pry grew tired of the
dancing and seated themselves on top of the
gate. Tucker Gray saw them and he felt jealous,
for he had a great fondness for little Patty and
did all in his power to coax her from Billy, but
she would not come. Then Tucker went off and
devoted himself to Polly Pruin. Polly was
charmed, for she had been sitting all alone wav-
ing her new turkey feather fan. But all at once
the fun was brought to a close, the house door
was thrown open and out stole old Tom, the big,
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? 224
The Back Yard Party.
black cat. Such, a scampering you never saw,
and no one stopped until he had safely reached
his home. It was a shame that they should be so
^^^^^
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^^ ^\ ^^'i^^^P^B
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SZ
. . -
^
rudely disturbed in the midst of their fun, for
they were having a very gay time all by them-
selves, and they are such cute and cunning little
things that we like to see them enjoy themselves.
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? The Interrupted Party.
It was little Dot Mouse's birthday. It bad been
a long while coming, Dot thought, but she was such
a young mouse that time to her did not seem to
have wings as maybe she might have imagined it
did, had she been a little older.
At any rate, her birthday had come at last, and
Dot was a happy little mouse. Now if this birth-
day was going to be just like any other day in the
15 C226>
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? 226 The Interrupted Party.
week perhaps Dot would not have been so anxious
for it to come, but this was to be a very different
day -- great things were to happen. Mother
Mouse had promised Dot a party. Dot had never
had a party, although she had been to the Christ-
mas party given by the squirrel, and she remem-
bered that night as the very happiest time in all
her life. Dot would have liked to ask all the
people she knew, but Mother Mouse had very
different views on the subject, and only the mice
that lived next door, and those that lived in the
baker shop across the way had been invited.
They
were very glad to come, and the mice from the
baker's shop had promised to bring some dainties
if there was a chance of their carrying them across
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? The Interrupted Party.
227
without being seen. Yesterday Dot had found
such a pretty frock when she was hunting around
the nursery closet. She often visited that closet,
for nurse sometimes left the lid off the cracker
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? 228 The Interrupted Party.
jar, and Dot was as fond of crackers as the baby.
But this time she forgot all about the crackers, she
was 80 pleased over the pretty pink gown. It
must have belonged to a very tiny doll, for it was
just the right size for Dot, and she was such a
little mouse. When the birthday came Dot rigged
herself in her new dress and sat down to wait for
her guests. Mother Mouse was so slow fixing her
ruffled cap that Dot felt sure she would not be
ready in time, but Mother Mouse knew there was
no hurry. By and bye the mice came creeping in
and greeted their little hostess, with best wishes
for a happy birthday. The mice from the baker's
had been as good as their word, and each had
brought some sweet meat to add to the repast. So
there was no lack of good things for the feast.
But alas, alas, their fun was soon to be spoiled.
Mother Mouse had just nibbled a hole in the sugar
bag when a squeak from her daughter made her
look up, and there, almost upon them, stood oid Tab,
and close behind her on the stairs were her four
little kittens, each one anxious to secure a mouse
for supper. Then such a hurrying and scurrying
you never saw in all your life. It was too bad,
for poor little Dot expected such fun at her party.
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? Lady Nibble's Ball.
Scratch ! Scratch ! Scratch ! went the pen of
Lady Nibble. It was a quill that had fallen out
of the old gander's tail, and the bottle of blueing
that the farmer's wife had left on the hanging
shelf served splendidly for ink.
Lady Nibble was writing invitations for a ball.
The farmer's family were going to give a dance in
the new barn. Her Ladyship knew this was so,
for she had overheard the folks talking about it
when she went into the kitchen cupboard after
some cheese. She made up her mind at once that
this was the time to entertain her friends, as there
would be lots left to eat after the farmer's dance
was over. She went right to work and sent invi-
tations far and near.
Dicky Scratch had been invited to play the
music. He had a fiddle that had once adorned
the children's Christmas tree, but had been thrown
out as rubbish, until Dicky found it. Peter
Squeak was to call out the figures, his voice was
so high and shrill. The old clothes hamper that
had been banished from the house would serve as
a splendid stand for Dicky and for Peter Squeak
also.
Lady Nibble was all in a flutter of excitement
(229)
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? 230
Lady Nibble's Ball.
when the night arrived, and how pleased she was
when she found so many had responded to her in-
vitation. They came in dress coats, sacque coats,
cutaways and some less fortunate came without
coats -- but what they wore made no difference, for
everything was lovely, and the best of all Old
Katty Scamper and little Mousey Shy danced
together perched upon an old dish-pan that had
been turned up-side-down. How they all laughed
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? Lady Nibble's Ball.
231
when poor old Eatty forgot the smalluess of the
space on which he was dancing, and danced en-
tirely off.
They danced by twos and they danced by rights,
and before they could realize it the farmer's guests
were going home and Lady Nibble had invited
them to step into the barn and partake of refresh-
ments. What a feast they had ! Her Ladyship
had chosen wisely in selecting this night, for such
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? 232 The Adventure of the Mice.
rich dainties rarely fall to a mouse's lot with so
little trouble. There were dainty bits of cheese,
crackers, fine chicken and many other nice things,
but the very best of all was the box of chocolates
which old Ratty Scamper found hidden under the
table. He had tasted nothing so good since the
Christmas before, when he had crept into little
Flossie Gray's bed-room and taken a big bite of
the candy cane old St. Nicholas had left in her
stocking. Then they found a dish of strawberry
ice cream, which someone had left. They had
never tasted ice cream before, and at first they were
afraid to touch it, but when they once got a taste,
they all voted it very nice.
It w^as all over at last, for even the best of
things must end, and as Lady Nibble bade her
guests good-night she felt satisfied that this had
been the great success of her life.
The Adventure of the Mice.
Things had reached a point where something
must be done, so thought and so said the four gray
mice that had met together to talk over their woes.
These four mice had spent their lives in perfect
comfort and happiness under the high back steps.
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? The Adventure of the Mice.
233
and they knew thai- no four mice were quite as
happy as they. But what a change had come
into their lives ! The house had been sold, and
these new people made the lives of these four
little mice most miserable. No such thing as a
trap had ever bothered them -- but now it was al-
most impossible to enter a cupboard or to climb up
on a shelf without one of these cruel traps coming
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? (234)
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? The AdveDtare of the Mice. 235
to view. Of course the cheese smelt good and
looked so tempting, but these sly little chaps had
learned the danger of traps, and though they
wished and sighed for the good things, they did
not venture near these strong wire enemies. But
worse than traps came into their lives. These
they could keep away from, but a foe, big and
powerful, had been brought to capture them. It
was a large, sharp-eyed, shiney black cat. He
never seemed to sleep, for try when they might to
creep silently into the house his quick ears heard
them, and his big round eyes looked eagerly around.
These four little mice were growing as thin as
shadovrs, for they dared not venture from their step
home to get even a morsel of food. At last they
met in council, and then it was decided that some-
thing must be done. After much talking they
concluded that puss must be killed and that they
must do it. So armed with weapons and a good
strong rope they started on their mission. You
can't guess how brave they felt nor how sure of
their success. But what a difference came when
they started into the house. There stood the cat.
Then they forgot to be brave and off they scamp-
ered, as fast as possible, never stopping to look
behind.
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? Grandmother Mouse's Tale.
Grandmother Mouse had invited her two
oldest grand-daughters to tea. They were very
nice h'ttle mice and great favorites with the old
lady, and as they also were very fond of their
grandmother, it was a pleasure for them to go.
They put on their very best clothes and took lots
of care in getting ready, for their grandmother was
most particular. When they reached the Louse
there she stood on the top one of the back kit^ohen
steps, wearing her ruffled cap and her snowy v/hite
apron, and ready with a hearty welcome for both
of them.
Grandmother Mouse lived all by herself in the
cupboard under the kitchen stairs. This had been
her home all her life, and as they sat around the
tea table that evening she told them the story of
how this became her home.
" Mother," said she, ^* went off one day to hunt
for a bit of cheese or some nice fresh crackers and
told me to stay where I was until she came back.
I shut my eyes thinking I would take a nap while
she was gone, for the time always seemed so dreary
when mother was away -- and I must have taken
a good long nap, for it was dark when I opened
ray eyes, but mother was not there, though I called
r236J
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? Grandmother Mouse's Tale. 237
and called her. All that night she did not come,
and when the next day passed and again she di4
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? 238 Grandmother Mouse's Tale.
not come, I knew something had happened to her
-- but whether tlie old cat had pounced upon her
or whether she yielded to temptation in the form
of a piece of cheese and so ended her life in a
wicked trap, I never found out. " Here Grand-
mother stopped to wipe her eyes, for though it was
a long time ago, she could not tell the story with-
out weeping.
"Well," continued she, "I had grown very
hungry by this time, so I stole quietly out to find
something to eat. How strange I felt all alone in
this new world. I seemed to be growing tinier
every minute or else the great big cellar was grow-
ing bigger. Cook had made some lovely rusks
and had put them in the cellar to cool. This was
very kind in cook, I thought, and I ate all the
sugar off the top of one and then began to nibble
at the crust. But just then I heard footsteps, and
oh my! how fast I scampered away. It was
cook after the rusks, and I heard her mutter as
she went up the stairs, "Mistress must certainly
get a trap ; the mice have been at work again. "
I trembled so that I was afraid cook would hear
me, and the vision of that trap made me so un-
happy that I could not sleep one wink. Then
and there I made up my mind that nothing, noth-
ing would ever tempt me to go near a trap, not
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? Grandmother Mouse's Tale. 239
the ricthest piece of cheese, not the daintiest morsel
of cake. I thought of the cake and cheese, my
dears," said the mouse, smiling, "because they
were the two things I particularly loved, and I
must own that I have not lost my fondness for
them, if I am old and a grandmother.
" Day after day went by, and I was getting
thin, for the vision of the trap had not left my
mind, and I was afraid to venture out for food.
But time is a great healer, you know, so at last I
became quite brave and visited the pantry shelf
nightly.
" By and by I married your grandfather. Hia
home Avas in one corner of the garret back of the
camphor chest.