And in a surprisingly short while
the Meadow Mouse family was on its way to the mill pond.

Everybody set to work--everybody except Uncle Billy Meadow Mouse. He was
busy telling all the rest what to do, though he didn't help half as much
as he thought he did.

But every one was polite to him, for he was the oldest Meadow Mouse on
the farm.

It wasn't long before they had everything snug again. And as for Master
Meadow Mouse, he was actually glad that he had made the whole village
move. For Paddy Muskrat lived in the mill pond. He spent all his time
there when he wasn't taking excursions up the brook. And Master Meadow
Mouse found him the best of company.

Especially did Master Meadow Mouse like to hear Paddy Muskrat slap his
tail upon the water, when he gave the danger signal.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

24

Master or Mister?

LIVING, as he did, near the mill pond, Master Meadow Mouse saw a great
deal of Paddy Muskrat. They had a number of tastes in common. They both
liked lily bulbs. They both enjoyed swimming. They both disliked Peter
Mink. They were bound to become great cronies--if for no other reason
than the last.

By spring Paddy Muskrat knew Master Meadow Mouse well enough to ask him
a very intimate question.

"Why does everybody call you 'Master'?" he inquired one day.

Master Meadow Mouse looked at him in a puzzled fashion for a moment or
two.

"I don't know," he answered. "I don't know why, unless it's because they
_always have_ called me that. Don't you think it's a good name?" he
asked Paddy Muskrat a bit anxiously.

"Oh, yes!" Paddy assured him. "There's no doubt that it's a good enough
name. But it's one that's given to a youngster--to a mere child."

"I'm not a youngster!" Master Meadow Mouse cried. "Nobody can call me
_young_. I'm almost a year old!"

"I thought so," said Paddy Muskrat, as if he knew he couldn't have been
mistaken. "You're grown up. And yet they still call you 'Master' Meadow
Mouse. If I were you I'd get folks to change that."

It was plain that Master Meadow Mouse agreed with him in every way. He
had already made up his mind that he wouldn't answer to the name of
'Master' Meadow Mouse any longer. And he told Paddy Muskrat as much.

"If they want me to answer after this, they'll have to call me something
else," he declared. "Now, what would you suggest?"

Paddy Muskrat said he needed time to think the matter over. And he
thought that he'd like to c