ions and a happy, home. But Meg and Peg were
like Ridiklis and could not bear to leave their families--besides
not wanting to live in nests, and hatch eggs--and Kilmanskeg said
she would die of a broken heart if she could not be with Ridiklis,
and Ridiklis did not like cheese and crumbs and mousy things, so
they could never live together in a mouse hole. But neither the
gentleman mouse nor the sparrows were offended because the news was
broken to them so sweetly and they went on visiting just as before.
Everything was as shabby and disrespectable and as gay and happy as
it could be until Tidy Castle was brought into the nursery and then
the whole family had rather a fright.

[Transcriber's Note: See picture mouse.jpg]

It happened in this way:

When the dolls' house was lifted by the nurse and carried into the
corner behind the door, of course it was rather an exciting and
shaky thing for Meg and Peg and Kilmanskeg and Gustibus and Peter
Piper (Ridiklis was out shopping). The furniture tumbled about and
everybody had to hold on to anything they could catch hold of. As
it was, Kilmanskeg slid under a table and Peter Piper sat down in
the coal-box; but notwithstanding all this, they did not lose their
tempers and when the nurse sat their house down on the floor with a
bump, they all got up and began to laugh. Then they ran and peeped
out of the windows and then they ran back and laughed again.

[Transcriber's Note: See picture fashionable_wives.jpg]

"Well," said Peter Piper, "we have been called Meg and Peg and
Kilmanskeg and Gustibus and Peter Piper instead of our grand names,
and now we live in a place called Racketty-Packetty House. Who
cares! Let's join hands and have a dance."

And they joined hands and danced round and round and kicked up
their heels, and their rags and tatters flew about and they laughed
until they fell down; one on top of the other.

It was just at this minute that Ridiklis came back. The nurse had
found her under a chair and stuck her in through a window. She sat
on the drawing-room sofa which had holes in its covering and the
stuffing coming out, and her one whole leg stuck out straight in
front of her, and her bonnet and shawl were on one side and her
basket was on her left arm full of things she had got cheap at
market. She was out of breath and rather pale through being lifted
up and swished through the air so suddenly, but her saucer eyes and
her funny mouth looked as cheerful as e