at many times during the
following days. Then one or two of them thought change of air would be
the best thing for them, so they went down stairs for a short time, and
when they came back, to Mr. Mouse's disgust, they each brought back a
wife or a husband.

Mr. Mouse was quite angry at such an addition to a family already too
large, he thought; so that evening, instead of staying quietly at home,
and watching the young ones run races, he was so disturbed in his mind
that he went out for a walk.

The moonlight was coming in through the window and making a long line of
light on the floor as Mr. Mouse slowly walked out from under the
wardrobe. He stood for some time looking about him, thinking in which
direction should he first go. His bright little eyes twinkled in the
moonlight as he looked this way and that, and having made up his mind to
go first to the bird-cage and see how the provisions were there, he sat
down on the floor and scratched his ear slowly with his hind-foot. The
birds were all asleep on their perches; but to Mr. Mouse's indignation
he found that his children, not satisfied with taking all the seed that
fell outside, had all but emptied the box in the cage.

"Young scamps," said Mr. Mouse, "they will be getting us into mischief
if they eat up everything like this."

From the bird-cage he went on to the old lady's bed, and after running
about there for some time, went to sleep under her pillow. He found it
so comfortable and warm that next night he went back to the bed, but
before going to sleep under the pillow he thought he would like to see
what the old lady's night-cap tasted like. He nibbled and nibbled until
he had made a large hole; and then, finding it so amusing and nice, he
crept under the clothes, and ate several large round holes in her
night-gown. But alas for poor Mr. Mouse! The old lady in her sleep
happened to roll over on her side: there was a faint squeak, rather
muffled by the bedclothes, and Mr. Mouse's days on this earth were over.

Next morning the old lady said to her maid, "Brown, I wish you would
look at my cap; there was something tickling and pressing my head last
night, and also my leg." Brown looked, and was horrified at the big hole
she found on her mistress's cap; but she was speechless when on looking
into the bed she found Mr. Mouse's dead body, and two more holes in her
mistress's night-gown. She wanted to get a dog or a cat, and any amount
of traps; but the old lady