he prudent,
To conquer it is to be courageous,'

so he would not let himself be frightened, which is being really
brave.

Once when he heard a tremendous noise, like dozens of motor
omnibuses passing over his head, he whispered to ask Perez if
that was where Don Pedro lived, but Mr. Mouse said no with his
tail, and on they went.

After going down a gentle slope they came to a big cellar which
felt nice and warm and smelt very much of cheese; behind a pile
of Gruyere cheese they found themselves face to face with the
Huntley and Palmer biscuit tin which was the home of the Perez
family. Here they lived as happily as the rat of fable did in
the Dutch cheese. Perez the Mouse introduced the King as a
foreign tourist who was on a visit to the capital, and the
family welcomed him very cordially. The two Miss Mouses were at
work with their Governess, Miss Stilton, who was a very learned
English mouse, and Mrs. Mouse was embroidering a beautiful
smoking cap for her husband, sitting by a bright fire made of
raisin stalks.

This happy family party delighted King Bubi. * Adelaide and
Elvira made tea and poured out some into lovely wee cups made
out of the skins of white beans. * Then they had a little
music. Adelaide sang Desdemona's song, 'O Willow Willow,' in
a way which much pleased the King, and Elvira recited about a
little mouse who was ill of fever, and a naughty kitten who
wanted to pounce on it. After this Adolphus came in from the
Jockey Club where, to the sorrow of his father and mother, he
wasted all his time playing cards with the mice from the foreign
embassies.

[Illustration: Perez the Mouse stopped at some crossway]

King Bubi would willingly have stayed longer, but Perez, who had
slipped away, came back with his satchel on his back and said it
was time to start. * So the King said goodbye very politely,
and Mrs. Mouse gave him a kiss on each cheek in her homely way.
* Adelaide put out a paw in a lackadaisical fashion, and Elvira
shook hands like a pump handle, while Miss Stilton made him a
beautiful cheese of a curtsey, and then stared at him through
her eyeglass until he was out of sight. * Adolphus, too, was
very gushing, and conducted him as far as the lid of the tin,
and offered to introduce him at the Polo Club, for which the
King thanked him very much, thinking all the time that, though
he might be a very smart young mouse, he was rather a bore. Then
Bubi and Perez the Mouse again