was so sorry for the mouse she had killed
that she made the excuse that perhaps he was the only one left, and that
they would wait a little longer and see. Brown gave in, as she could not
help it, and looked crosser than ever on account of the mice.

Now the young Mrs. Mice were searching for homes for their babies, which
had come. They could find no place at all, until one day one of them
found a hole in the back of the wardrobe, and calling her sister, they
both with great caution crept in and found just what they wanted. One of
them took possession of the old lady's bonnet, one of the old-fashioned
big ones, all quilted with satin inside; and the other the muff to match
the bonnet. There could not have been more comfortable nests for their
babies, when the linings were removed and had all been properly cut up
into shreds, than the old lady's muff and bonnet made; so the two young
mammas were in high delight, and tucked their babies in that night,
feeling they had been wiser and luckier than any Mrs. Mouse ever had
been in getting such a bed for their little ones.

A few days after a young lady came running into the room. She was a very
pretty young lady, and she seemed to bring sunshine and happiness into
the room with her. "Oh, grandmamma!" she cried, "you must put on your
things and come out. I have brought the carriage for you; the sun is
shining so brightly; the wind is from the south, and it is quite summer.
It will do you so much good to get some fresh air."

"Oh, little one, I could not," said grandmamma; "I have not been out for
months, and I don't know where my things are. I don't think I can go out
to-day. It does me almost as much good to see your bright face."

"You must come out, grandmamma; it's no use making excuses," said the
young lady; and so the old lady gave in, as everybody did to this
sunshiny little woman.

As soon as the two young Mrs. Mice heard the doors of the wardrobe
opened, they scampered away as fast as they could. The bonnet was taken
out, and then the muff, and you can think what a scene there was when
the nasty hairless little mice tumbled out, and they found how utterly
destroyed both bonnet and muff were.

That was the last of the Mouse family. The old lady moved into another
room the next day. Her old room was cleared of furniture, the
mouse-holes stopped up, a cat put in at night, and a bull-terrier by
day, and traps of all kinds. Every mouse was killed, and not a single
o