y's
bright eyes looking out from among the dry leaves and moss for his
return, and he was fearful some ill had befallen her. As he approached
the house, he thought he heard several little squeaking sounds, and on
entering his nest, found that Downy in his absence had become the
mother of four ittle helpless blind mice, which she was suckling.
Silket was overjoyed, he licked the little ones with much affection,
and behaved with the greatest tenderness to Downy; he presented her
the filbert he had brought home, and praised the beauty of his little
family, though none but himself could see that they possessed any, for
little mice are very ugly till they can open their eyes, and have got
fur on them; for like puppies, and kittens, and rabbits, they are all
born blind, and do not open their eyes for many days after.

No mouse could behave better than Silket now did; he would not suffer
Downy to stir out in the cold, on any account, for, though it was the
latter end of March, the weather was unusually severe, and the frost
very hard; Silket was out almost the whole day searching for nice food
for Downy, and getting soft moss to keep his young ones warm,--but one
day he grieved Downy much and did a deal of mischief,--he wanted
something to cover his little ones with, and what did he do, but went
into the garden to the hedge where Mrs. Ball had hung out her linen to
dry, and the wicked Silket gnawed and bit one of the old lady's white
aprons almost to pieces, carrying home as many of the rags as his
mouth would hold, to his house. Downy was sadly vexed when she heard
what he had been doing, and she was forced to read him a very long
lecture on being so mischievous, while Mr. Mischief amused himself by
laying the rags out to the greatest advantage, admiring the white
quilt he had brought home for his little ones' bed, and secretly
resolving to go and fetch the remaining fragments, and though he saw
how grave Downy looked, he did not think he had done so much harm in
biting the old lady's apron; so he cast a cunning eye at Downy, to see
if she was observing him, for he wanted sadly to get the rest of the
apron, only he did not like to disoblige her commands, and get another
scolding; but she saw what he was after, and she begged him not to go,
for she said, she knew that such mischievous ways would come to no
good end, and that he would get caught in a trap, or killed by some
cat, or fall into some great danger, 'And, (added she,