o were now grown so
strong that they were able to leave the nest; but their parents never
allowed them to go out of their sight, or to ramble beyond the branches
of the oak.

One day Brush said to his partner, "Well, this is miserable work! I
declare I have no peace night or day, but am always thinking or
dreaming about this horrid wild-cat; I almost wish I had never been
born, or at least, that I had been a water-rat, or, better still, that
curious fellow called a mole, that Leatherwing talked to me about
once."

"And where does this mole live?" said Mrs. Brush.

"Why, he spends almost all his life under the ground, and though it
must be very dark and damp there, he is at least safe from being eaten
up by wild beasts. He makes famous long caverns, branching out from
each other and in one place he has a very comfortable nest, lined with
dry grass and leaves, and among the roots of some tree he makes what
Leatherwing called his fortress, because he always goes there when he
is frightened. And all these nice places are safe under the ground. Oh!
I really wish I was a mole! The wild-cat might come as soon as she
pleased, then."

"I think she would scratch the earth up with her great claws, and pull
you out of your fortress, as you call it."

"How could she? Why there are I don't know how many caverns, all
leading from the fortress, and I could easily escape by one or other of
them. Then I could dig through the earth a great deal faster than she
could, if I were a mole; for Leatherwing says, that his fore-feet are
amazingly large and strong. Oh! ten times stronger than mine! Then he
never goes to sleep much more in the winter than in the summer, for
when the ground is frozen hard, all he has to do is to dig down a
little deeper, till he finds the earth soft; so he never cares what
sort of weather it is, and he has no need to trouble himself about
laying up a store of provisions for the winter. Oh! it must be very
nice to be a mole!"

"I should be afraid that my eyes would be filled with dust and dirt,
when I was digging under the ground."

"_Your_ great staring eyes would, I dare say, but the mole's are very
different. They are so small, and covered over with fur, that he is
sometimes thought to be quite blind.[8] For, as Leatherwing says,
people _are_ so stupid and ignorant! But I believe the mole's little
eyes are not often of much use to him, for he seldom comes out of his
caverns, and when he does it is at nig