the glow of the red blood in
their veins.

"Did you ever see such beautiful babies?" said their mother proudly to
her neighbors. "They are certainly the finest I ever had." Her friends
smiled, for she always said the same thing whenever she had little ones.
Yet they understood, for they had children of their own, and knew that
although mothers love all alike, there is always a time when the
youngest seems the most promising. That is before they are old enough to
be naughty.

The days passed, and the eight baby Meadow Mice ate and slept and pushed
each other around, and talked in their sweet, squeaky little voices.
They were less pink every day and more the color of their father and
mother. They grew, too, so fast that the nest was hardly large enough
for them, and the teeth were showing in their tiny pink mouths. Their
mother saw that they would soon be ready to go out into the world, and
she began to teach them the things they needed to know. She took them
outside the nest each pleasant day and gave them lessons in running and
gnawing, and showed them how to crouch down on the brown earth and lie
still until danger was past. After she had told them many things, she
would ask them short questions to make sure that they remembered.

"How many great dangers are there?" she said.

"Five," answered the little Mice.

"What are they?"

"Hawks, Owls, Weasels, Cats, and men."

"Tell me about Hawks."

"Hawks are big birds who seem to float in the air. They have very sharp
eyes, and when they see a Mouse they drop suddenly down and catch him.
They fly in the daytime."

"Tell me about Owls."

"They are big birds who fly by night without making any noise. They can
see from far away, and they catch Mice."

"Tell me about Weasels."

"They are slender little animals, nearly twice as long as a Mouse. They
have small heads, four short legs, and sharp claws; have brown fur on
their backs and white underneath, and sometimes, when the weather is
very cold, they turn white all over."

"Tell me about Cats."

"Cats are very much bigger than Weasels, and are of many colors. They
have long tails and whiskers, and dreadful great eyes. They walk on four
legs, but make no noise because they have cushions on their feet."

"Tell me about men."

"Men are very big, two-legged people, and when they are fully grown are
taller than Cows. They make noise in walking, and they can neither smell
nor see us from afar."

"And what are