ins will come soon. The creek is sure to rise. And then where
will you be?"

"I'll be in the water, I suppose," Master Meadow Mouse answered.

"Correct!" said Long Bill Wren. "And you want to avoid that. Maybe
you've noticed that my wife and I built our nest off the ground. We
fasten it to the reeds so we'll be dry, no matter if there's a freshet
in midsummer."

"Ah!" Master Meadow Mouse exclaimed with a smile. "I see you don't like
water as much as I do. The fall rains won't trouble me. If the creek
rises as high as my house it will be all the more fun."

Long Bill Wren gave him an odd look.

"You're a queer one," he remarked. "Anyhow, you can't say I didn't warn
you. If there's a flood when the fall rains come, and you get drowned
out, you can't say it's my fault."

"Certainly not!" cried Master Meadow Mouse. "And I thank you for your
kind advice. But I'm not going to be drowned out. I can swim."

Long Bill Wren shook his head.

"I hope you'll escape," he said. "I shall not be here to know whether
you do or not. For we're starting for the South to-morrow. But I hope
to find you safe and sound next May, when I return." And then he went
home, to tell his wife that Master Meadow Mouse was a very daring young
fellow.

Master Meadow Mouse built himself a house under the bank of Black Creek.
And later the rain fell heavily for several days and nights, just as
Long Bill Wren had expected. The creek rose fast. Yet Master Meadow
Mouse didn't worry. When the water lapped at his doorway he only
laughed. And when it caught at his house and bore it downstream Master
Meadow Mouse held his fat sides and roared.

The flood brought much rubbish with it. But Master Meadow Mouse saw
nothing that took his fancy until at last a floating board caught his
eye.

Master Meadow Mouse swam out to it and scrambled upon it.

"Hurrah!" he squeaked as the board carried him along with the current.
"This is fine! I've got a raft. And I'll go a-traveling."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

16

On the Raft

A BOARD was floating along on the swollen waters of Black Creek. On it
sat Master Meadow Mouse. He was very happy. He was having his first
ride, of any sort.

"This raft--" he said to himself proudly--"this raft belongs to me. I'll
be a traveler. I'll see the world--at least as far as the big willow at
the lower end of the meadow!"

He scarcely cared to go beyond the big willow. Beyond it lay another
farm. And Maste