"Then why should anybody move, right in the middle of winter?" Master Meadow Mouse wanted to know.
"Because--" Uncle Billy declared hotly--"because somebody has gone and let Peter Mink know where we"re spending the winter. And it"s not safe for us to stay here any longer."
Master Meadow Mouse couldn"t help feeling guilty. Still, he hoped he hadn"t made as great a mistake as Uncle Billy would have him believe.
"I"ve heard," he ventured, "that Peter Mink can squeeze through any hole that"s big enough for his head. But surely he couldn"t get even his flat head into one of our pa.s.sages."
"He can burrow in the snow!" Uncle Billy snapped. "He can and he will.
He"ll come sniffing and listening all around here. And when he finds a likely spot to dig, down he"ll go through drifts and crusts until he reaches the stubble." Uncle Billy shook his head and drew a long breath.
"Young man," he said, "you"ve got us into a peck of trouble. This whole village has to move. Don"t let it happen again!"
By that time others of the villagers had gathered round and heard the news. Of course the news spread fast. And in a surprisingly short while the Meadow Mouse family was on its way to the mill pond.
Everybody set to work--everybody except Uncle Billy Meadow Mouse. He was busy telling all the rest what to do, though he didn"t help half as much as he thought he did.
But every one was polite to him, for he was the oldest Meadow Mouse on the farm.
It wasn"t long before they had everything snug again. And as for Master Meadow Mouse, he was actually glad that he had made the whole village move. For Paddy Muskrat lived in the mill pond. He spent all his time there when he wasn"t taking excursions up the brook. And Master Meadow Mouse found him the best of company.
Especially did Master Meadow Mouse like to hear Paddy Muskrat slap his tail upon the water, when he gave the danger signal.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
[Ill.u.s.tration]
24
Master or Mister?
LIVING, as he did, near the mill pond, Master Meadow Mouse saw a great deal of Paddy Muskrat. They had a number of tastes in common. They both liked lily bulbs. They both enjoyed swimming. They both disliked Peter Mink. They were bound to become great cronies--if for no other reason than the last.
By spring Paddy Muskrat knew Master Meadow Mouse well enough to ask him a very intimate question.
"Why does everybody call you "Master"?" he inquired one day.
Master Meadow Mouse looked at him in a puzzled fashion for a moment or two.
"I don"t know," he answered. "I don"t know why, unless it"s because they _always have_ called me that. Don"t you think it"s a good name?" he asked Paddy Muskrat a bit anxiously.
"Oh, yes!" Paddy a.s.sured him. "There"s no doubt that it"s a good enough name. But it"s one that"s given to a youngster--to a mere child."
"I"m not a youngster!" Master Meadow Mouse cried. "n.o.body can call me _young_. I"m almost a year old!"
"I thought so," said Paddy Muskrat, as if he knew he couldn"t have been mistaken. "You"re grown up. And yet they still call you "Master" Meadow Mouse. If I were you I"d get folks to change that."
It was plain that Master Meadow Mouse agreed with him in every way. He had already made up his mind that he wouldn"t answer to the name of "Master" Meadow Mouse any longer. And he told Paddy Muskrat as much.
"If they want me to answer after this, they"ll have to call me something else," he declared. "Now, what would you suggest?"
Paddy Muskrat said he needed time to think the matter over. And he thought that he"d like to consult his wife, who always had an opinion.
"Wait here till I come back!" he told Master Meadow Mouse. And, diving into the water, he swam home. He was back in a few minutes, with a broad smile upon his face. "I"ve thought of the very thing!" he exclaimed.
"Or, at least, my wife has. She says, "Call him "Mister," of course"!"
"That"s fine!" cried Master Meadow Mouse. "I"m sure I couldn"t have thought of that if I"d tried all summer. And now," he added, "I must go and tell everybody about this sudden change."
So he hurried home. And, calling everybody around him, he explained that he was a year old, and that he had successfully dodged Miss Kitty Cat, Tommy Fox, Solomon Owl, Ferdinand Frog, Peter Mink, Old Mr. Crow and goodness only knew how many other dangerous folk.
"I"m grown up now," he told his hearers. "From this time on I expect everybody to call me _Mister_ Meadow Mouse."
And everybody said that a new name was no more than he deserved. They all approved his choice.
No! There was just one among all the company that was opposed to the change. He snorted and started to say something disagreeable. And for once everybody told Uncle Billy (for it was he!) to be quiet.
And that was the end of Master Meadow Mouse.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE END]