FEBRUARY 1: Mice are Discovered
“The Mice,” said daddy, “had been enjoying a new pantry they had found. They always found some pantry where they could get good things to eat, and this pantry was full of delicious cheese and all sorts of nice things.
“‘Really,’ said Mr. Mouse, ‘I don’t think we could have found a better pantry. It’s one of the nicest homes we’ve had in a long time.’
“‘Yes,’ said Mrs. Mouse. ‘And there are no traps, and there is not a single Cat in the House. That is what I call right. It’s very wrong to keep a Cat. They’re such horrid creatures.’
“They would frisk about the pantry, behind the shelves and through the drawers which were often left half-open.
“‘It is so stupid and inconsiderate,’ said Mr. Mouse, ‘for people to close all the drawers and lock up their things in tin boxes. For my part I hate tin boxes. They can’t be bitten and they’re so apt to cut me when I try to get them opened.’
“‘Yes, they’re horrid,’ said Mrs. Mouse. ‘We can’t open them, no matter how much we try. I like little cardboard boxes best that we can nibble through.’
“Now one day the children who lived in the house had been out coasting all the afternoon. It had been a glorious afternoon, and they had coasted so hard they were very hungry.
“When they came in they asked their mother for something to eat.
“‘Go and look in the pantry,’ said their mother. ‘You will find biscuits and jam, and quite a lot to eat in there. As it’s a Saturday afternoon you may have a little feast.’
“Off went the children to the pantry. Now, the Mice had not been bothered all afternoon. They had seen the cook leave the kitchen and the pantry was just off the kitchen.
“‘We’ll have a feast this afternoon,’ said Mother Mouse. And all the little Mice had thought it was a wonderful scheme to have a regular feast.
“They had been enjoying themselves and having a splendid time when the children arrived.
“When they heard the door open and the children coming in, the Mice scampered to their holes and to their hiding places back on the shelves. They made a great deal of noise, and some of them squealed in their hurry to get past each other.
“‘The pantry is full of Mice,’ said the children.
“Meanwhile the Mice were saying, ‘They heard us, and now they know that we are living here. Well, we’ll just have to move—that’s all. For somehow people don’t like to have Mice for visitors. It’s very foolish of them, but they don’t like us!’
“‘Well,’ said Mr. Mouse, ‘we might as well make the best of it. Besides this has been a very nice home and perhaps we’ll be lucky and find another.’
“‘I hope it will be just as nice,’ said Mrs. Mouse, as they all followed Mr. Mouse in his search for a new pantry!”