se paths are worn by the running to and
fro of the Meadow Mice. Their homes are in stumps of trees or in the
higher ground near the ditches. In these homes the baby Meadow Mice stay
until they are large enough to go out into the great world and eat
roots, grasses, and seeds with their fathers and mothers. Sometimes they
do go out a little way with their mother before this, and they go in a
very funny fashion. Of course, when they are babies, they drink warm
milk from her body as the children of most four-legged people do.
Sometimes a young Meadow Mouse does not want to stop drinking his milk
when it is time for his mother to leave the nest, so he just hangs on to
her with his tiny, toothless mouth, and when she goes she drags him
along on the ground beside her. The ground is rather rough for such soft
little babies, and they do not go far in this way, but are glad enough
to snuggle down again with their brothers and sisters.

There is no danger of their being lonely, even when their mother is
away, for the Meadow Mice have large families, and where there are ten
babies of the same age, or even only six, which is thought a small
family among their people, it is not possible for one to feel alone.

There were two fine Meadow Mice who built their nest in the bank of a
ditch and were much liked by all their relatives. They had raised many
children to full-grown Mousehood, and were kind and wise parents. When
their children were married and had homes of their own, they still liked
to come back to visit. The father and mother were gentle and kindly, as
all Mice are, and were almost as handsome as when they first began to
gnaw. Nobody could say that he ever saw a bit of dust on either of them.

The brown fur of the upper part of their bodies and the grayish-white
fur underneath always lay sleek and tidy, and from their long whiskers
to the tips of their hairless tails, they were as dainty as possible.
That was one reason why they were so fine-looking, for you know it makes
no difference how beautiful one may be in the first place, if he does
not try to keep clean he is not pleasant to look at, while many quite
plain people are charming because they look well and happy and clean.

Now this pair of Mice had eight Mouse babies in their nest. The babies
were no larger than Bumble Bees at first and very pink. This was not
because their fur was pink, but only because it was so very short that
through it and their thin skin one saw