d looked
at his handiwork. "That ought to do the trick."

Then he hung the sign outside his door and went into his house to enjoy
a nap. And the side of the sign that was turned outward said, "Gone to
Lunch. Back To-morrow."

Master Meadow Mouse slept late into the afternoon. And towards sunset,
while he was still asleep, Tommy Fox slipped through the pasture fence.

"Hullo!" he murmured softly as his eyes fell on Master Meadow Mouse's
dwelling. "Here's a bit of luck. I smell a Mouse. And he must be taking
a nap inside his house."

Tommy Fox crept closer to the little hut. Then all at once he
straightened up with a look of displeasure on his sharp face. He had
just noticed the sign.

"He's away from home!" Tommy exclaimed. "That's a pity. He can't have
been gone long. Maybe I can catch him near-by."

But he couldn't find Master Meadow Mouse anywhere. He looked all
around--except inside the shelter where Master Meadow Mouse was fast
asleep.

Tommy Fox came back and read the sign once more.

"Back To-morrow," he muttered. "Very well! I'll come back here
to-morrow. For that's what the sign tells me to do."

And the next day he returned. He grinned from ear to ear as he read what
the sign said: "At Home. Don't Knock. Walk In." Then he thrust his long,
sharp nose right through Master Meadow Mouse's doorway.

There was nobody there. And Tommy Fox looked silly as anything.

"Fooled!" he growled. "Fooled by a Meadow Mouse! I hope nobody ever
finds it out."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

11

A Castle in the Air

IT seemed as if Master Meadow Mouse was always moving. Perhaps the
pleasantest move he ever made was when he went to the cornfield to live.
When autumn came Farmer Green shocked the corn. All over the field
bundles of cornstalks stood in rows, like soldiers. And what suited
Master Meadow Mouse especially was the ripe ears in the shocks, which
Farmer Green had not yet gathered.

For some weeks past Master Meadow Mouse had been living in a rude
shelter, which he had built for himself near the fence between the
pasture and the meadow. Though he had been quite comfortable there
during the hot weather, there were days, now, when a chilly wind swept
through Pleasant Valley and made him shiver slightly as he thought of
the frosts which his neighbors told him were on the way.

He had made up his mind to seek some snugger home. But not until he saw
what Farmer Green was doing with the cornstalks