in surprise. "What is it?"

"It--it's a--a mouse!" cried the little girl.

"A mouse?" repeated the teacher.

"Yes'm! A mouse in Bunny Brown's desk!" and Sadie screamed.

At this some of the other children screamed, and there was much noise
and confusion in the schoolroom.

CHAPTER IV

THE CORNER STORE

"Quiet, children! Quiet!" ordered Miss Bradley. "This is school, not the
playground at recess. Now, Sadie," she went on, as soon as there was a
little quiet in the room, "tell me again, and be careful what you say.
What did you see?"

"Please, teacher, I saw a mouse in Bunny Brown's desk, and he made a
face at me. I mean the mouse made a face at me--not Bunny!" Sadie made
haste to explain, for she saw Bunny look at her when she made the
statement about his desk and the mouse.

Sadie had left her seat beside Bunny's desk, and was now up front.

"How many other girls saw the mouse in Bunny's desk?" asked Miss
Bradley.

No one answered.

"Raise your hands if you are afraid to speak," said the teacher, with a
smile. She was beginning to believe that Sadie had imagined it all, or
else that an edge of a book had looked like a mouse.

None of the girls raised her hands except Sadie West.

"Did any boy see the mouse?" Miss Bradley next asked.

"No, but I wish I had!" exclaimed Charlie Star. "If I'd see it I'd grab
it!"

The other pupils giggled on hearing this.

"Quiet, children! Quiet!" begged the teacher again.

"Are you sure, Sadie, that you saw a mouse in Bunny Brown's desk?" asked
Miss Bradley.

"Yes'm, I'm sure I did," was the answer.

"Bunny, did you bring a mouse to school?" Miss Bradley next asked. "I
mean a pet mouse, for I know you and Sue have many pets. Did you bring a
mouse to school, Bunny?"

"Oh, no, Teacher! I wouldn't do such a thing!" Bunny declared very
earnestly.

"I didn't believe you would," said Miss Bradley, with a kind smile. "I
think Sadie must be mistaken. But still, to quiet her--and all of you,"
she added, looking at the pupils, "I will look in Bunny's desk. I am
quite sure I will find nothing more than a book or a piece of paper that
may have moved, making Sadie think it was a mouse."

Miss Bradley went to Bunny's desk. All the desks in the room were of the
sort with a lid that raised up and down on hinges, like the cover of a
box. As Miss Bradley came near Bunny's desk she noticed that the top was
raised a little way, leaving a crack of an opening. Bunny had p