"Of course there's a difference in tastes," Mrs. Mouser said
thoughtfully. "Some of the things which Bunny Rabbit thinks are good, I
don't like at all, and perhaps he objects to what I believe is very
fine. Now here is a story Mr. Crow has got about Mr. Man's boy Tommy.
Mamma Speckle thinks there was nothing like it ever told. He says that
Tommy Man, one night after he had been tucked up in his crib, was
awakened by a strange, humming, buzzing sound close to his head, and
when he got out the sand that the 'sand-man' had put in his eyes, he
stared about him. There on the bottom of the bed was a fearful
hobgoblin, so Tommy Man thought, with big round eyes, awfully long legs
and wings, and a beak that looked like a trooper's sword.
"'Are you one of those angels that my mamma said took care of little
boys at night?' asked Tommy Man, trembling.' 'Cause if you are I guess I
can get along by myself all right; you needn't stay.'
"But the mosquito made a jab with his bill at the bed-clothes over
Tommy's chin, and said, loudly:
"'Cousin-n-n-n-n, Cousin-n-n-n.'
"'Oh, you're a cousin, are you? I wonder which one?'
"'Z-z-i-m m-m,' answered the mosquito, buzzing about Tommy Man's head.
[Illustration: The Unexpected Visitor.]
"'Zim? Oh, I guess you must be that soldier cousin of mother's by the
looks of the sword you carry; his name was Jim.'
"'Cousin-n-n-n-n!' buzzed the mosquito sharply. 'Don't you know your own
relations?'
"'You my relation?' Tommy asked in amazement. 'How do you make that
out?'
"'Oh, easy. Relations are those who have the same blood in them, ain't
they?'
"'Yes,' assented Tommy.
"'Well, you and I have the same blood. You had it, and now I've got it.
I just tapped you, you know.'
"Tommy didn't know anything of the kind, and he was terribly frightened,
so he just covered up his head, and trembled until Mr. Mosquito flew
away."
"Those are what I call nonsense stories," your Aunt Amy said when Mrs.
Mouser ceased speaking, and she replied quite sharply:
"Of course they are, and that is about all the animals on this farm
know."
"I am certain you make a mistake, Mrs. Mouser Cat, for you have told me
several this afternoon which teach a good lesson," your Aunt Amy said,
and for a moment it seemed very much as if Mrs. Mouser was angry, but
her face brightened an instant later, as she cried:
"I've got the very story for you, although it's about a mouse, and I
don't really believe in talking of them so much, for it makes it appear
as if they were of great importance, when all they are fit for is to
furnish food for us cats.
"Once upon a time there was a miller who lived in his mill, and on a
certain morning, when he was opening the sacks of grain, out hopped a
little mouse.
"'Oh, wife, wife!' he cried as if he had seen some horrible animal.
'Bring me the butcher knife so that I can kill this mouse!'
"But the little mouse put her paws together and begged for her life. She
promised to keep the mill free from mice if the miller would spare her
life. Well, after a good deal of talk the miller agreed that she should
be allowed to live in the mill, and for a whole month she kept her word
so well that not even a mouse's tail was seen anywhere around the place.
Then, one morning the miller heard a faint squeaking, and he cried out
angrily:
"'What's this, Mrs. Mouse? You have forgotten your promise, and let in
some of your friends.'
"No,' answered the little mouse, 'I have kept my promise. Those are my
three babies, who were born last night,' and she led the way proudly to
her nest, where the three squirming little mouse babies lay.
"'So this is the way you keep your word, is it?' the miller cried
angrily. 'You promised to drive all other mice away from this mill, and
here are three who have come to get their living from me!'
"Then he picked up the babies and threw them into the river. Oh, but the
little mouse was angry! Yet she was only a mouse, and he was a man, so
she said nothing; but after that, whenever she got a chance, she gnawed
and gnawed and gnawed at the outer post of the mill, sometimes working
the whole night long.
"Then came a big storm, and the river rose very high; the posts which
were half gnawed through, broke, and the mill fell over into the river.
"'Save me! Save me!' shouted the miller as the swiftly-running current
carried him down the stream.
"'I am sending you to find my lost babies,' squeaked the little mouse as
she ran to and fro on the bank.
"There's a good lesson in that story, if you know how to find it," Mrs.
Mouser said as she curled herself into a little ball near the fireplace,
much as though she had come to an end of her story-telling; but just at
that moment a mouse showed his nose in one corner of the room.
In an instant Mrs. Mouser Cat was on her feet looking as if she had
never thought of such a thing as taking a nap, and in a very few seconds
she had the mouse in her claws.
[Illustration: Mrs. Mouser Cat Catches a Mouse.]
"I guess this breaks up my visit," she said, going toward the door. "I
must give the kittens a chance to learn how a mouse should be caught,
and it isn't likely I'll have time to come back here this afternoon."
Then Mrs. Mouser Cat disappeared through the half-opened door, and your
Aunt Amy was left alone, wondering which, of all the animals on the
farm, would be the next to provide her with an afternoon's
entertainment.