en; and added, it was time enough to think of it when the
men began; she told Downy to go to bed with the rest of her brothers
and sisters, and not to be afraid.

"But poor Downy was in great trouble about what she should do, and
could not sleep for thinking of the sad fate which threatened them;
she awakened her companions to consult with them; but her sisters only
laughed at her fear, and said, they would never leave a place where
they were so well off; and where they could get plenty of good corn,
only for the trouble of eating it. Her brothers were of the same
opinion, and added, they could run so swiftly, they were sure they
could soon get away into the field; but they expected they should live
very quietly yet for some time.

"Poor foolish little things! they did not think the danger was so
near; but they were awakened the next morning by the farmer's men
unroofing the stack, and they now wished they had hearkened to the
prudent advice of their sister Downy.

"Poor little Downy's heart almost died within her, when she heard the
barking of the dogs, and the hallooing of the men; how much rather
would she have been in the field, than in the warm stack! for she
heard the men drawing near to the place where they lay; and they were
all terribly afraid; and their mother, the old mouse, would go to see
how far the danger was from them. Imprudent creature! she ventured too
near; for a great black dog on the top of the stack, the moment the
men raised the sheaf where she was, snapped her up in an instant.

"Nothing was now to be heard but shrieks and cries from every side of
the stack; and the men drew nearer and nearer: Downy heard the last
cries of her brethren; the sheaf where she had taken refuge, was
already on the point of being raised, when she sprang through an
opening in the side, and was just going to run down, when she beheld a
great dog directly under her!

"Poor Downy gave herself up as lost, and awaited in trembling anxiety
her fate: for some moments she clung to the outside of the stack, not
daring to descend, yet fearing still more to stay; when, luckily for
our poor little mouse, some one called the dog, who instantly ran off;
and Downy, darting from the stack, had just time to gain a place of
security beneath a clod of earth, where she lay shaking with fear, not
daring to look up for some minutes.

"She shuddered with horror when she heard the dying groans of her
friends in the stack, and the shout