itors!"

"And without any invitation!" said Mrs. Thomasina Tittlemouse.

They went along the sandy passage--"Tiddly widdly--" "Buzz! Wizz! Wizz!"

He met Babbitty round a corner, and snapped her up, and put her down
again.

"I do not like bumble bees. They are all over bristles," said Mr.
Jackson, wiping his mouth with his coat-sleeve.

"Get out, you nasty old toad!" shrieked Babbitty Bumble.

"I shall go distracted!" scolded Mrs. Tittlemouse.

[Illustration: Confronting the Bee]

[Illustration: Shut into the nut-cellar]

She shut herself up in the nut-cellar while Mr. Jackson pulled out the
bees-nest. He seemed to have no objection to stings.

When Mrs. Tittlemouse ventured to come out--everybody had gone away.

But the untidiness was something dreadful--"Never did I see such a
mess--smears of honey; and moss, and thistledown--and marks of big and
little dirty feet--all over my nice clean house!"

She gathered up the moss and the remains of the beeswax.

Then she went out and fetched some twigs, to partly close up the front
door.

"I will make it too small for Mr. Jackson!"

[Illustration: Closing up the front door]

[Illustration: Too tired]

She fetched soft soap, and flannel, and a new scrubbing brush from the
storeroom. But she was too tired to do any more. First she fell asleep
in her chair, and then she went to bed.

"Will it ever be tidy again?" said poor Mrs. Tittlemouse.

Next morning she got up very early and began a spring cleaning which
lasted a fortnight.

She swept, and scrubbed, and dusted; and she rubbed up the furniture
with beeswax, and polished her little tin spoons.

[Illustration: Polishing]

When it was all beautifully neat and clean, she gave a party to five
other little mice, without Mr. Jackson.

He smelt the party and came up the bank, but he could not squeeze in at
the door.

[Illustration: The party]

[Illustration: Honey-dew through the window]

So they handed him out acorn-cupfuls of honey-dew through the window,
and he was not at all offended.

He sat outside in the sun, and said--"Tiddly, widdly, widdly! Your very
good health, Mrs. Tittlemouse!"

THE END

* * * * *

Transcriber's Note: Punctuation normalized and captions added to
illustrations.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse, by Beatrix Potter

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF MRS. TITTLEMOUSE ***

***** This