ong before he became very restless, and
evidently wanted to go about his business. He would climb up to the edge
of the boat and peer down into the water. Finally he could brook the
delay no longer and plunged boldly overboard; but he had either changed
his mind or lost his reckoning, for he started back in the direction
from which he had come, and the last I saw of him he was a mere speck
vanishing in the shadows near the shore.

Later on I saw another mouse, while we were at work in the fields, that
interested me also. This one was our native white-footed mouse. We
disturbed the mother with her young in her nest, and she rushed out with
her little ones clinging to her teats. A curious spectacle she
presented as she rushed along, as if slit and torn into rags. Her pace
was so hurried that two of the young could not keep their hold and were
left in the weeds. We remained quiet, and presently the mother came back
looking for them. When she had found one, she seized it as a cat seizes
her kitten and made off with it. In a moment or two she came back and
found the other one and carried it away. I was curious to see if the
young would take hold of her teats again as at first, and be dragged
away in that manner, but they did not. It would be interesting to know
if they seize hold of their mother by instinct when danger threatens, or
if they simply retain the hold which they already have. I believe the
flight of the family always takes place in this manner with this species
of mouse.

I suspect that our white-footed mouse is capable of lending a hand to a
fellow in distress; at least, the following incident looks like it. One
season they overran my cabin in the woods, and gave me a good deal of
annoyance; so much so that I tried trapping them, using the ordinary
circular trap with four or five holes and wire springs. One night I
heard the trap spring in the attic over my head, followed by the kicking
and straggling of the mouse. This continued for a few moments, when all
was still. "There," I said, "that mouse is dead." Presently the rattling
of the trap recommenced, and continued so long at short intervals that
going to sleep was out of the question. I fancied the mouse was too
strong for the trap, so I went upstairs to investigate. The captive was
dead, sure enough, and I was more puzzled than ever. On examining him
closely, I found the fur on his back was wet and much rumpled. I
concluded, therefore, that his companions h