broth! Beside the table stood a chair, over the back of
which was thrown a thick, fur-lined coat.

Just as he reached for the coat, he heard a terrific
howling, and the next moment a gigantic hand had swept past
him, snatching away the coat and the soup, and so terrifying
Grasshopper Green that he fell over backward--and awoke.

"Well, singe my whiskers, what's this? What's this?" he heard a
hearty voice exclaiming, and, looking up, was astonished to find
himself in the cosy home of a family of Meadow-Mice!

This is how it had happened. When Grasshopper Green sank down
exhausted among the roots of the old apple tree, he had not
noticed, in the darkness, that he was leaning against a small
door; this was the door of the home of the Meadow-Mouse family,
who lived here in a hollow part of the tree, near the roots.

An especially strong gust of wind had blown the door open and
tumbled Grasshopper Green into the room.

When he sat up and looked about he was not quite sure, at first,
that this was not just a part of his dream.

Father and Mother Meadow-Mouse and their four children,
Long-Tail, Sharp-Eyes, Pink-Ears, and Mouseykins, had finished
their supper of cornbread and cheese, and Father Meadow-Mouse was
telling of two narrow escapes he had had the night before, one
from a horned owl and one from Farmer Green's cat, Mouser. He had
just come to the most exciting part of his adventures and all
the family were listening with breathless interest, when the
door, which had been left unbolted, blew open, as I have told
you, and in tumbled poor Grasshopper Green.

Father and Mother Meadow-Mouse helped him over to their most
comfortable chair, by the fire, for the poor fellow was so
benumbed by the cold that he could hardly even stand alone.

While Grasshopper Green was explaining, in a wheezing voice,
interrupted by coughs, how it was that he had burst in on them so
rudely, Mother Meadow-Mouse filled a plate with food for him;
then, bustling over to a corner cupboard, she got down a little
jug of homemade Gooseberry syrup, poured some of it into a
pannikin and set this on the fire to heat, saying as she did so,
"There's nothing like warmed Gooseberry syrup to break up a
cough."

[Illustration]

Father Meadow-Mouse would every now and then blow his nose and
exclaim, "Well, singe my whiskers and twist my tail!" just to
express his sympathy.

Of course the little Meadow-Mouse children lo