e taught by a wise old grey mouse whom they called "Uncle."
"Uncle" lived in a nice stone house, a hole in the foundation of
a ruined barn, near-by.

[Illustration: A wise old Gray Mouse called "Uncle"]

They were all very merry that evening at the supper table. Jolly
Father Meadow-Mouse told them a rattling good yarn about the
adventures of some young water-rats who put to sea in an old pie
plate and determined to become pie-rats! (Your mother will
explain this little joke.)

[Illustration]

After supper, while the youngsters were doing their lessons,
Grasshopper Green helped Father and Mother Meadow-Mouse with the
dishes. It made him feel very sad to think that he must soon be
leaving this pleasant household.

He thanked Father and Mother Meadow-Mouse for all their goodness,
and started to say that he ought to be leaving the next morning,
as he had nothing with which to pay for his keep, but Father
Meadow-Mouse interrupted him.

"You'll do no such thing," he exclaimed heartily. "Now you just
listen to me. If you want to pay us, you can do it in this way.
Give us all dancing lessons, and play us a lively tune on your
little fiddle now and then, for every one knows that all
Grasshoppers are wonderful dancers and fiddlers."

This plan, of course, just suited Grasshopper Green. In fact he
was so delighted at the prospect of spending the winter with the
merry, kind-hearted Meadow-Mice that he made a tremendous leap
which carried him clear to the other end of the room. A second
leap _almost_ landed him in a pan of dish-water!

In the midst of his caperings there was a knock at the door.

It was Mr. and Mrs. White-Mouse, old friends of the Meadow-Mice,
who had come to make a friendly call. Grasshopper Green had never
seen any White-Mice before, and he thought them very beautiful
and aristocratic with their pale complexions, ruby-colored eyes
and long pinky tails. (For White-Mice _do_ look that way, you
know).

He learned later that they belonged to a little boy living in a
near-by farm house.[1]

[Footnote 1: This boy didn't keep the White-Mice in a cage but in
a fine little house with stairs like a very perfect doll's house.
His father helped him make it. These White-Mice were treated so
kindly that they never wanted to run away, though now and then
they would go to visit friends.]

Rap, tap, tap!--more guests arrived: three dainty little roadside
Fairies with these funny names, Sun-Flower-Seed, Thistle-Wh