CHAPTER I
Mrs. Mouse tripped daintily up, merrily chattering, and calling to the elves:
“Come, come! follow me.”
Then she pushed aside some stalks of wheat and led them into her tiny home.
They entered the house much against their will.
They would have preferred to remain at the door, and hoped they would not have to stay there long, and that she would soon be ready to go and show them the way to the beautiful world.
How was it she was not as pleasant as she was when Grandfather Grasshopper was there?
She called out sharply, “Spider Eyes, come in quickly, and shut the door.”
The elves thought it not quite polite.
The air was so close within, that Spider Eyes’ head began to swim, and Chip Wing, seeing him stagger, ran to open the door just a little bit.
As soon as Mrs. Mouse saw him do it, she turned around and gave Spider Eyes a slap with her paw which knocked him quite over.
“I thought I told you to shut the door. Did you not hear me? It makes such a draft the children will take cold.”
This made Chip Wing angry, and he shut the door with a bang.
“I will pay you for that,” said Mrs. Mouse. “You must count the kernels in this stalk of wheat. I will punish you for setting my nerves all ajar. And you, Dusty Cap, take some straw and patch up that hole in the side of the house. Pointed Toes, you must sweep the floor; and you, Spider Eyes, must take care of my dear children. Keep them asleep. And, mind you, if I find anything wrong when I come home, I will attend to you all.”
She left them with a warning nod of her head, and each elf went to his task with a heavy heart.
“What right had she to do this? She is not our Queen! We need not follow her commands!” exclaimed Spider Eyes, turning to his brothers three.
“This is not what she said she would do,” said Chip Wing. “She promised to show us the way to the beautiful world. I tell you what, we will not stand this long. We will leave this place in a hurry.”
When they thought she had gone far away, they flew to open the door, but found to their sorrow that it was locked, and she had taken the key.
They shook and shook the door, hoping that some part would give way. Then they turned to each other, exclaiming in great alarm: “We are prisoners!”
Just then one of the little mice awoke kicking and wanting some water.
It rolled out of bed, crying: “Oh, I am hurt; mamma, come and pick me up.”
Spider Eyes heard the little one cry, and remembering that it was left in his care, ran to lift her up. But mousie was too heavy for him.
SPIDER EYES TRIES TO LIFT THE BABY MOUSE
SPIDER EYES TRIES TO LIFT THE BABY MOUSE
SPIDER EYES TRIES TO LIFT THE BABY MOUSE
Poor little Spider Eyes tried to lift her head, then her feet, but all in vain.
Then he called to his brothers, saying: “Do come and help me. Chip Wing, you take her head, and Pointed Toes and Dusty Cap take her feet, while I put my hands under her back.”
Still they were unable to lift her, and they had to leave her.
By this time her noise had awakened all the rest of the family.
What a screaming and squeaking and squealing they made, all crying, “Mamma!”
The poor little elves could hardly hear themselves think.
Spider Eyes said, “I do not like this. We must get out of it as soon as we can. What a noise, what a hubbub! I never heard such a din. Hark, there is the key in the door! She is coming! Let us slip by her and fly off.”
Just as they thought they were safely past her, she caught them one by one. Giving them a sharp pinch with her teeth, she sat them on the floor with a thump, saying:
“You thought you were going, did you? Why did you not go?”
Then she stepped inside the door and locked it.
Taking up a stick she beat the little elves until they were sore and lame.
How they huddled in one corner, saying: “If this is the way to the beautiful world, we wish we had stayed at home.”
Mrs. Mouse said to her children: “My little dearies, you sweet little darlings, did they abuse you? I will take good care that they do not do it again. Aha, aha! They are looking for the beautiful world, are they? I will show them the beautifulworld! They are to be my slaves. They shall serve me and mine, and that is the beautiful world for them.”
She turned to them, laughingly, and said: “So you want to see the beautiful world? Well, it lies at the end of this stick I want you to understand. Now, each to your task. What! You are not going!”