ht, which has always been the
proper thing to do ever since the world began, and no one has
ever known Perez the Mouse forget to come and fetch the tooth
and leave a lovely present in its place.

[Illustration: Miss Stilton, the Governess]

King Bubi found writing that letter a dreadful task, but he
managed really quite well in the end, and only inked all his
fingers, the tip of his nose, his left ear, his right shoe and
his bib.

He went to bed very early that evening, and ordered that all the
lights should be left in his room. He put the envelope under his
pillow and sat up in bed, determined to keep awake to see Perez
the Mouse, even if he had to wait all night.

[Silhouette]

Perez the Mouse was a long time coming, so the little King began
to make up a little speech to say to him when he did arrive.
After a bit Bubi began to open his eyes very wide, fighting
against the miller who was trying to make him shut them; but
they did shut at last, and the little boy slipped down into the
warm bed-clothes, his head on the pillow, with one arm over it,
as a little bird tucks its head under its wing when it goes to
sleep.

Suddenly he felt something very soft just tickling his forehead,
and, sitting up quickly, he saw in front of him, standing on the
pillow, a tiny little mouse in a straw hat and slippers and big
gold spectacles; a red satchel was slung across his back.

[Illustration: A tiny little mouse in a straw hat
and slippers and big gold spectacles]

King Bubi stared at him in astonishment, and Perez the Mouse,
seeing that His Majesty was awake, took off his hat and made
a very low bow, waiting to be spoken to. But the King said
nothing, because he had quite forgotten all he had made up to
say, and after thinking and thinking he faltered out at last
'Good night.' * Perez answered with a low bow, 'God give your
Majesty a very good one.' * These civil speeches quite broke
the ice, and the King and the mouse became the greatest friends.
* It was easy to see that Perez was a mouse who was accustomed
to polite society, and to run about on soft carpets, as he had
such very good manners. * It was wonderful what a lot of
things he could talk about which made him a very pleasant
companion. * He had travelled through all the pipes and drains
of the capital, and in the Royal Library alone he had eaten up
three books in less than a week. * He talked too about his
family. He had two