Your Aunt Amy said to Mrs. Mouser that she would be very much pleased to
hear it, and, telling the story as if she did not entirely approve of it
herself, Mrs. Mouser began:
"Mother Mouse had two little daughters, Meeky and Squeaky. Meeky was a
good little mouse, and did everything her mother told her. Squeaky was
very brave and daring, but she was the torment of everybody's life.
"One day Mother Mouse was too ill to go out and do her own marketing.
"'I wish you children would go and get me a little lump of cheese,' she
moaned.
"Away scampered the two little mice to a high shelf they knew of; their
mother had warned them against traps and cats, so they were careful not
to linger on the pantry floor. When they found the cheese, Meeky began
at once rolling up a little lump to take home to her mother, but Squeaky
filled her mouth as full as it would hold, and ran up and down the
shelf, making a great clatter.
"'Be careful,' said her sister. 'The cat will hear you.'
[Illustration: Squeaky sees Mrs. Cat.]
"Squeaky looked down and saw the cat on the pantry shelf; she knew it
couldn't get up to her, and she could not resist calling: "'Peekaboo!'
"Dear me, how Mrs. Cat glared!
"'Oh,' said Meeky, 'how are we to get down with mother's cheese now?'
"Squeaky said they would wait till the cat went to sleep, and pretty
soon this seemed to be the case. But Mrs. Cat was only shamming, for the
minute Squeaky reached the floor she pounced upon her, and while the
mouse was carried shrieking away, Meeky made her escape.
"Of course, Mother Mouse and Meeky felt badly for a while, but the other
mice said it was just what might have been expected, and just what
happened to young mice who would not mind what their elders told them."
"Don't you ever feel badly, Mrs. Mouser, when you have caught a mouse,
to think that it had a mother, and brothers and sisters, in its hole,
waiting for it to come back?" your Aunt Amy asked.
"Why should I?" and Mrs. Cat spoke sharply. "Mice were made for cats to
eat, and even if they were not, unless I killed all I could, Mr. Man's
house would be over-run with them."