The mice who lived in the old house met one day to discuss the means to
be used to get rid of a large, fierce black cat that had taken up her
abode there, and made her living by hunting and eating them up one by
one, so that their numbers were greatly reduced. Each mouse lived in
constant dread of being pounced upon and eaten.
Even the youngest scarcely dared to scurry across the floor, its little
heart beating pit-a-pat, and they found it so hard to get time to look
for food that they all grew thin.
They lived in such dread that when they met, no one at first could think
of anything to say. But at last a young mouse plucked up his spirits and
said: "I will tell you what to do. Fasten a bell on the cat's neck. As
she walks about the bell will ring, and we shall hear it and can tell
where she is."
This seemed so good a plan that the mice all chattered joyously, until
an old mouse asked quietly: "Who will go out and bell the cat?"
None of the mice dared; and they quickly realized that _what seems an
easy plan may be hard to carry out, and some things are easier said than
done_.
[Illustration]