u eat ten times as much as I do.
And I never heard of your catching a mouse, either."

"Ah!" said Spot. "Don't forget that I drive the cows and watch the house
and the barns at night. And during my spare moments I hunt woodchucks.
You couldn't expect a person of my importance to fritter away his
valuable time catching mice. Mousetraps couldn't do my work," old dog
Spot continued. "There never was a mousetrap made that could drive a
cow."

"That's one reason why I don't like them," said Miss Kitty Cat. "They're
not only poor at catching mice, but they're useless at anything else.
Now, whenever I capture a mouse I always make matters as pleasant as
possible for, him. I always play with him for as long a time as I can
spare. But a trap just goes _snap_! A trap doesn't seem to _want_ to
make friends with anybody."

Old dog Spot laughed right in Miss Kitty's face.

"Much you care for your friends the mice!" he chuckled. "And much they
care for you! If you knew what they call you, you'd be pretty angry."

"What's that?" Miss Kitty demanded.

"I don't want to tell you," said Spot. "I don't want to hurt your
feelings." He knew (the rogue) that he could tease Miss Kitty more by
leaving her to wonder what name the mice had for her.

Much as she wanted to know it, Miss Kitty Cat was too proud and haughty
to ask him again. And, jumping up suddenly, she walked stiffly away.

"I shall have to find a mouse somewhere," she muttered under her breath.
"I shall have to find a mouse somewhere and make him tell me what old
Spot won't."

XVI

A MIDNIGHT MEAL

DOWN in the cellar of the farmhouse a fat couple known as Mr. and Mrs.
Moses Mouse crept out of a hole under the pantry floor and ran down a
post to the cellar bottom.

"Things have come to a pretty pass!" Mr. Mouse grumbled. "Mrs. Green
never did leave more than a crumb or two in the pantry where a fellow
could get it. And since Miss Snooper came to live here there's less to
eat than ever."

Mrs. Mouse nodded her head somewhat dolefully.

"Do you remember, Moses," she said to her husband, "what delicious bits
of stale cheese Mrs. Green used to serve for us here in the cellar,
stuck on a short piece of wire? To be sure, she was somewhat
thoughtless--the way she left that dangerous loop caught back, so it
would snap over and catch you behind the ears if you weren't careful.
But you were always very skillful at avoiding that."

"Ah! Those were happy days--or, I