supply as many
more as it wants.'

"'Wait till noonday,' said the dog, 'and I'll soon bring the rascal to
reason.'

"At twelve o'clock Flaps quietly pushed the door open and went up into
the loft. There sat the old owl winking and blinking in a corner.

"'So you are the robber who is going to scratch people's eyes out,' said
Flaps. 'For this you must die!'

"'That remains to be seen,' sneered the owl; 'but eyes I will have, and
dogs' eyes too!' and with that it swooped down upon Flaps' head; but the
old dog seized the bird between his teeth and killed it, though not
before one of his own eyes had been scratched out in the struggle.

"'No matter,' said Flaps; 'I've done my duty, at any rate, and I don't
know why I should want more than one eye to see with;' and so saying, he
went back to his post.

"The fowls made a great feast, which lasted the whole day, to celebrate
the owl's death.

"But the mice remained in the castle, and continued to increase and
multiply. So the three wise cocks had to go forth on a second voyage of
discovery, in order to try and find a remedy against the intruders.

"They flew on for a night and a day without any result; but towards
morning, on the second day, they alighted to rest in a thick wood, and
there, in one of the forest glades, just as the sun was rising, they saw
a red-coated animal watching a mouse-hole. It was a fox, who had come
out to find something for breakfast. They soon saw him catch a mouse and
eat it, and then heard him say, 'Heaven be praised for small mercies! I
have managed to secure a light breakfast at last, though I've been
hunting all night in vain.'

"'Do you hear that?' said one of the messengers. 'He considers himself
very lucky to have caught a single mouse. That's the sort of animal we
want.'

"So the cock called down from the tree--'I say! below there! Mr.
Mouse-eater! you can have a whole loft-full of such long-tailed vermin
as that, if you will come with us. But you must first solemnly swear
that you will never eat eggs instead of mice.'

"'Nothing on earth shall ever tempt me to touch an egg. I swear it most
solemnly,' said the fox, staring up into the tree. 'But whence do you
come, my worthy masters?'

"'We live at Hencastle, but no one knows where that is except the mice,
who eat us out of house and home.'

"'You don't say so,' said the fox from below, licking his lips. 'And are
there many more such handsome, magnificent birds as you are,