on, and then hurried away, to conceal from us the emotions of her
sorrow, at thus sending us into the wide world.

She was no sooner gone, than the thought of being our own directors so
charmed our little hearts, that we presently forgot our grief at parting
from our kind parent; and, impatient to use our liberty, we all set
forward in search of some food, or rather some adventure, as our mother
had left us victuals more than sufficient to supply the wants of that
day. With a great deal of difficulty, we clambered up a high wall on the
inside of a wainscot, till we reached the story above that we were
born in, where we found it much easier to run round within the
skirting-board, than to ascend any higher.

While we were there, our noses were delightfully regaled with the scent
of the most delicate food that we had ever smelt; we were anxious to
procure a taste of it likewise, and after running round and round the
room a great many times, we at last discovered a little crack, through
which we made our entrance. My brother Longtail led the way; I followed;
Softdown came next; but Brighteyes would not be prevailed upon to
venture. The apartment which we entered was spacious and elegant; at
least, differed so greatly from anything we had seen, that we imagined
it the finest place upon earth. It was covered all over with a carpet of
various colours, that not only concealed some bird-seeds which we came
to devour, but also for some time prevented our being discovered; as
we were of much the same hue with many of the flowers on the carpet.
At last a little girl, who was at work in the room, by the side of her
mamma, shrieked out as if violently hurt. Her mamma begged to know the
cause of her sudden alarm. Upon which she called out, 'A mouse! a mouse!
I saw one under the chair!' 'And if you did, my dear,' replied her
mother, 'is that any reason for your behaving so ridiculously? If there
were twenty mice, what harm could they possibly do? You may easily hurt
and destroy then; but, poor little things! they cannot, if they would,
hurt you.' 'What, could they not bite me?' inquired the child. 'They
may, indeed, be able to do that; but you may be very sure that they have
no such inclination,' rejoined the mother. 'A mouse is one of the most
timorous things in the world; every noise alarms it: and though it
chiefly lives by plunder, it appears as if punished by its fears for the
mischiefs which it commits among our property. It is t