[Transcriber's Note: Missing quotation marks have been left unchanged for flavor. Obvioustypographical errors have been corrected; errors and inconsistenciesare listed at the end of the e-text. ] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Little Downy; or, THE HISTORY of A FIELD MOUSE. Embellished With _TWELVE COLORED ENGRAVINGS. _ LONDON: Printed for A. K. NEWMAN and Co. Leadenhall-Street. _Price 1s. 6d. _ [Illustration: _Mrs. Clifford relating to her son Alfred, the history of the Field-Mouse. _] Little Downy; or, THE HISTORY of A FIELD-MOUSE. A MORAL TALE. Embellished WITH TWELVE COLORED ENGRAVINGS. [Illustration] LONDON: _Printed for_ A. K. NEWMAN and Co. LEADENHALL-STREET. 1822. THE LIFE AND INTERESTING ADVENTURES of a FIELD MOUSE. "What is my little Alfred crying for?" asked his mother, Mrs. Clifford, as she entered the room where Alfred stood weeping by thetable. Come here, and tell me what is the matter with you. " Alfred slowly advanced towards his mother, and wiped away his tearswith her apron. Alfred was but a little boy, or he would not havecried for such a simple thing as he did. "Well, Alfred, and what is it?" asked his kind mamma. "Why, mamma, you know that nice plum cake you gave me for saying mylesson well; I had put it in the cupboard, as I did not want to eat itthen, and I came just now to take a little nibble at it; and when Iopened the closet-door to look for it, there was an ugly brown mousein the closet, and hardly a scrap of my cake left; that greedy thinghad eaten it all but a few crumbs. " And here Alfred's tears flowedafresh. "I am very sorry, my dear child, that the mouse has eaten your cake;but still, I do not think it was worth shedding so many tears about:you must learn to bear such trifling disappointments with morepatience. I dare say, the mouse has eaten my sugar and cake, but Ishall not cry if it has. " "I am sure it is enough to make any one cry, (said Alfred). I onlywish, (added he, his eyes sparkling with anger), that I could havekilled the little beast for stealing my cake. " "Now, Alfred, I am ashamed of you, " said his mother gravely. Alfred could, however, think of nothing but the loss of his cake, and begged his mother to let the mouse-trap be set to catch themischievous intruder. Mrs. Clifford was very sorry to hear her little son talk so, and sherepresented to him his cruelty in wanting to take away the life of apoor mouse only for having satisfied its hunger. "But, mamma, mice do a deal of mischief, (said Alfred), and ought tobe killed; for that mouse will soon eat up all your sugar. " "But, Alfred; I know a certain two-legged mouse, who, if I left thekey in my store-closet, would eat more sugar in one minute than thispoor little animal could in an hour. " Alfred hung his head at this reproof, for it was but a day or twosince he was detected at the sugar dish; and he soon after left theroom. Mrs. Clifford was much grieved that her little Alfred shewed so muchinclination to be cruel and revengeful, two qualities so dangerous ina child, or in any one; and she knew that, unless it was timelychecked, it would grow into a habit. Harsh means, she did not like toadopt; and so she at last thought of a method which seemed likely tosucceed. She was well aware of the inconvenience of having mice in hercupboard, as they not only commit great depredations, but soil everything they touch; so, as she was forced to kill the mouse, she hopedto turn its death to a good use. Therefore, the next time Alfredentered the room, she asked him if he was still resolved to have themouse killed. "Yes, mamma, (replied Alfred), it had no right to eat mycake. " "Very well; I will have the mouse-trap set; but observe, Alfred, whether before the day is past, you do not tell me you are sorry forits death. " "Oh! no; that I am sure I sha'n't, " replied Alfred, and Mrs. Cliffordordered the trap to be set. Early the next morning, when Mrs. Clifford came down stairs and wentto the closet, she beheld her poor little prisoner dead in his wirecage. "See, Alfred, (said she), here is the poor mouse dead!" Alfred at first was glad; but when he saw what a pretty one it was, hewas sorry, but contented himself by saying to the dead mouse, "If youhad not been in the cupboard doing so much mischief, you would nothave been killed!" When he had said his lesson, his mother said to him, "Now, Alfred, shall I tell you a story?" Alfred was very fond of hearing a story, ifit was not too long, and he asked his mother, if this would be a longone. "I don't wish to tire you, (said his mother), so I will only tell youpart of it this morning. Alfred fetched his little stool, and havingplaced it at her side, fixed his eyes on her face while she related THE HISTORY OF A FIELD MOUSE. "In a wheat-stack, in Farmer Ball's yard, lived an old mouse with herfamily, consisting of five little ones, the most worthy of which was apretty brown mouse, called Downy, because her fur was longer andsofter than either of her brothers and sisters, and besides being theprettiest, she was likewise the wisest and best among them. "Her mother was by birth a field-mouse; she had been carried among thesheaves of wheat into the stack, with a great many more field-mice;and had lived there, at the expence of farmer Ball, ever since. "It was one fine clear morning, in the middle of March, that, as Downywas peeping her little nose out of the straw at the edge of the stack, to breathe a little fresh air, she saw the farmer with his men enterthe yard, and heard him tell the people that he would have the stacktaken into the barn and thrashed, and desired them to bid Fen, theratcatcher, come, and bring all his dogs with him. [Illustration] "Poor Downy was in a terrible fright at hearing this; she ran toacquaint her mother with it; and asked her what they had best do; buther mother, who was but a foolish mouse, bade her not be under theleast alarm, for she was persuaded the farmer did not mean to take itin just then; and added, it was time enough to think of it when themen began; she told Downy to go to bed with the rest of her brothersand sisters, and not to be afraid. "But poor Downy was in great trouble about what she should do, andcould not sleep for thinking of the sad fate which threatened them;she awakened her companions to consult with them; but her sisters onlylaughed at her fear, and said, they would never leave a place wherethey were so well off; and where they could get plenty of good corn, only for the trouble of eating it. Her brothers were of the sameopinion, and added, they could run so swiftly, they were sure theycould soon get away into the field; but they expected they should livevery quietly yet for some time. "Poor foolish little things! they did not think the danger was sonear; but they were awakened the next morning by the farmer's menunroofing the stack, and they now wished they had hearkened to theprudent advice of their sister Downy. "Poor little Downy's heart almost died within her, when she heard thebarking of the dogs, and the hallooing of the men; how much ratherwould she have been in the field, than in the warm stack! for sheheard the men drawing near to the place where they lay; and they wereall terribly afraid; and their mother, the old mouse, would go to seehow far the danger was from them. Imprudent creature! she ventured toonear; for a great black dog on the top of the stack, the moment themen raised the sheaf where she was, snapped her up in an instant. "Nothing was now to be heard but shrieks and cries from every side ofthe stack; and the men drew nearer and nearer: Downy heard the lastcries of her brethren; the sheaf where she had taken refuge, wasalready on the point of being raised, when she sprang through anopening in the side, and was just going to run down, when she beheld agreat dog directly under her! "Poor Downy gave herself up as lost, and awaited in trembling anxietyher fate: for some moments she clung to the outside of the stack, notdaring to descend, yet fearing still more to stay; when, luckily forour poor little mouse, some one called the dog, who instantly ran off;and Downy, darting from the stack, had just time to gain a place ofsecurity beneath a clod of earth, where she lay shaking with fear, notdaring to look up for some minutes. "She shuddered with horror when she heard the dying groans of herfriends in the stack, and the shouts of the men encouraging the dogs;many a poor mouse did she see running away in hopes of making itsescape, but pursued and devoured by the dogs. "Several times poor Downy had like to have been discovered by thedogs, or crushed beneath the horses' feet, but she crouched very closeto the ground, and lay so still, she hardly breathed, so great was herfear; at length she watched an opportunity, when no one was near, toquit her retreat, and ran with all the speed she could, not oncedaring to pause or look behind, till she gained the farmer's orchard;where she laid among the long grass, panting, and half dead withterror and fatigue; she hid herself toward night under the roots of anold apple-tree; for she was very much afraid of a great white owlwhich she had seen flying near. [Illustration] "It was in vain for her to lament the sad fate of her mother andbrethren; she could not recal them to life; and Downy was thankfulthat she had escaped so well; but the cold weather was not gone yet, and poor little Downy knew she had nothing to eat and no warm house tolive in; but must make herself one; and she was afraid she should bestarved to death with hunger, or die with cold. These thoughtsoccupied her mind, till she fell asleep, nor did she awake nextmorning till quite late, and found herself very hungry. She firstpeeped out of her hole, and seeing nothing near to hurt her, sheventured forth in search of some food; she rummaged among the deadleaves for some time, without success, till chance led her to a row ofnut-trees; here, after a diligent search, she had the good fortune todiscover three nuts, one of which she eat, being very hungry, and therest she carried home to her tree; but Downy knew they would not lastlong, and so thought it best to try and get more, she thereforedeposited them safely away, and sat off to look for more provisions;she spent nearly the whole day among the nut-trees, but returned homeonly with one nut; and a shower of snow falling, she was forced toreturn to her dwelling, and did not go out any more that day, but laidstill, and thought how she should make herself a warm nest; for shewas very cold here, having been used to the close warm stack, wherescarce any air entered. She eat very sparingly of her nuts, saving asmuch as possible for the morrow, fearing lest the snow should hinderher looking for more; but there had not fallen much, and in themorning, the sun coming out quite bright, melted it all; and Downyleft her tree to look for something to line her nest with, and formore food. That being the first object, she began to search for somefirst, and was more fortunate than before, as she discovered severalears of corn, which had been blown by the wind off the stack; shecould hardly credit her good fortune, when she beheld her store andsaw it all safely lodged in her granary. Her next care was to line hernest; for this purpose, (though it was very cold and frosty) shecollected all the bits of dried moss and grass she could find, andcarried them in her mouth to her new habitation; she nibbled off thefibres which hung to the roots of the tree, and dried weeds, and soonmade her house quite warm and comfortable. "She spent the remainder of the month of March, and the beginning ofApril, in laying up stores of provision, and in enlarging the insideof her house. "The Spring began with some beautiful warm days, and everything lookedcheerful and gay; the crocusses were all in flower, and the primroses, and snow-drops, with some early violets. Downy was rejoiced when shesaw the daisies in the orchard begin to shew their white heads abovethe grass, and she took many a frisk out to enjoy the sunshine, andwas quite happy and content. "One fine evening as she was returning to her house, she saw acreature much like a weasel, only somewhat smaller, which she knew tobe a mousehunt, by what she had heard of them: he was prowling alongclose by her tree, in hopes of catching her; he smelt about some time, and at last went in. Poor little Downy was in a sad fright; she knewnot what to do, for she saw his head peeping out of her hole, and hiscunning black eye looking round in every direction. [Illustration] "When little Downy saw the mousehunt take possession of her house, sheknew she must not venture there again, and was in great distress, asto where she should pass the night securely; at last she found a holein the bank, and into this she crept, though very much alarmed forfear of her enemy's discovering her; she dared not go to sleep at allthat night; nor did she stir out next day, till forced by hunger toseek for food; she did not see any thing of the mousehunt, but sheresolved to leave the orchard and seek a safer spot for her newhabitation. "Accordingly, next day, she sat off to look for a proper situation;she passed through the orchard hedge into a beautiful green meadow, all covered with daisies, red clover, cowslips, and golden buttercups. Here Downy resolved to find a place to live in: and she whisked aboutunder the tall heads of the cowslips and buttercups; at last she fixedon a little green mound, such an one as you, Alfred, call a fairy'sthrone, and here she began to scratch with her fore feet, till she hadmade a little opening in the turf, and she used such diligence, thatbefore night she had made a hole large enough to sleep in, and thoughit was not lined or so warm as her house under the old apple-tree, yetshe slept so sound that she never awoke till the sun had risen quitehigh in the heavens. "Downy jumped up in a hurry when she saw how late it was: the birdshad been up hours before her, and were all busily employed buildingtheir nests; every bush resounded with the songs of these littlecreatures while at work, and Downy knew she must not be idle, for shehad much to do; being very hungry she first went to an oak which grewat some little distance, and here she found plenty of acorns among theleaves--of these she made a hearty meal, and carried some to where shewas at work. With a great deal of care and labour she dug her houseand made it quite round and smooth, as she went on, carrying it in aslanting direction along the hollow side of the hill. It cost poorDowny many a long day's hard work before her house was completed, andmany a weary nibble before she had finished lining the inside of it. Her next care was to make a secure room for stowing away her winterstores; for this purpose, she made an opening on one side of her firstroom, and carried a passage along some little distance, and thenformed her store chamber, which she was a long time making, but it wasat length completed perfectly to her own satisfaction, having renderedit a most convenient granery. She had now nothing to do but find feedfor herself, and play, but Downy never came home without bringingsomething useful for her house, either a bit of straw or hay, a littletuft of moss, or the dried stalk of a flower; these she cut with herteeth into little bits, and laid in her nest to make it soft and warm. "Downy was now quite happy, her mound was all covered with flowers, fine cowslips, and butter-cups, and tuft of daisies grew close to theentrance of her house, and served to hide it from the eyes of owls, mousehunts, or any of the enemies to poor mice; and Downy thoughtherself quite secure from all dangers: of a beautiful moonlight nightshe used just to peep out from under the daisies, and look at the dewdrops all shining like diamonds in the moon-beams, and once shewhisked on to the top of her green mount, and began to play among theflowers, but she was alarmed by the sight of a small dog runningthrough the high grass, and she quickly retreated into her house; norwas she so imprudent again as venture out after it grew dusk. And nowthe grass grew long and high, the flowers began to lose their beauty, and turn brown; every thing proclaimed the approach of summer. "The month of June began, and the mowers came to cut down the grass;Downy was fearful that they would molest her, and spoil her house, when they came near the little mount; but she trusted to the chancethat they might not discover it, and she laid quite close all day. "But poor little Downy was very sorry to see all the nice high grassand pretty flowers cut down to the ground, those flowers which hadsheltered her from the sun and rain for so long. [Illustration] "'And now, (thought she), I shall certainly be caught by the greatwhite owl; for he will be able to see me now; and I can't hide myselfunder the long grass and dandelions, as I used to do, for they are allcut down and spoiled. '--Poor little Downy was in a great fright allthe time that the hay-makers were at work, and when she found themcoming near her house, with their great pitchforks in their hands, sheremembered the fate of her mother, and all her brothers and sisters inthe stack, and she thought that she should be safer in the bank of thegarden hedge; which was not far off. She watched an opportunity whenno one was looking, and hastened away to the hedge as fast as shecould, and creeping in laid quite snug; she remained in the bank thewhole day, and enjoyed herself more than could be expected, for theweather was extremely pleasant, and there was a fine bed of ripe wildstrawberries close by, which smelt quite refreshing. Though Downydared not venture back into the field for fear of being killed (formice are but timid little things) yet she was very happy all that day;and when she saw the men leave the field with the pitchforks which hadcaused her so much terror, she returned to her nest, and slept thatnight on some new hay which she had nibbled, and brought into herhouse to lay on. As soon as it was day, away ran careful Downy to thebank; she peeped through the hedge, and saw every thing in the gardenlooking very pleasant. So Miss Downy thought she should like to spendthis day in the beautiful shady garden; in she went, and soon found itas charming as it looked; for the garden abounded in plenty of goodthings; there were peas, and beans, and potatoes, and young carrots, and beds of ripe red strawberries. Downy did nothing but eat and enjoyherself the whole day, and did not think of returning home that day, nor for many days afterwards, for she said to herself--'Whatoccasion is there for me to go back to the meadow, where I have somuch trouble to get food, for here is more than I could ever eat, andI have no trouble in getting it at all--and I am sure no mischief willhappen to me here!' So she gave no thought of her nice house in thefield, but amused herself by eating all the day long; till she grewquite fat, and Downy thought she was happier than ever she had been inthe field, and she grew very indolent, for she now began to think thatthere was no occasion for her to work, but she said to herself, shewould play all day; and here she shewed herself to be a very simplelittle mouse, (as it proved in what befel her). She had been living inthe garden for nearly a month, when one fine sunshiny day, she hadventured nearer to the house than usual, and was lying reposingherself in the sun by a clod of dirt, near a rain-water butt, when shewas disturbed by a noise near her, and to her horror she beheld theblack cat with a fine kitten by her side, proceeding down the walkwhere she lay; to escape was almost impossible, even the attempt wasvain, and hapless Downy gave herself up for lost. A month back, andshe might have trusted to her own speed for escaping--but, alas! Downyhad so long been used to do nothing but eat and enjoy herself, thatshe was no longer able to run as swiftly as she used to do; she darednot even move a step, and sat in an agony of hopeless despair. "Downy now lamented her folly in having left her safe retreat in themeadow: what would she now have given to have been in her own littlehouse under the mole hill? and she bitterly regretted ever having beentempted to quit it, for there no cats ever came, and there she hadlived in innocence and happiness, whilst now she was doomed to fall avictim to the merciless claws of a hungry cat, who would devour heralive: she lay breathless! not a limb did she move, scarce did sheeven draw her breath, for the cat approached within a yard of the spotwhere she laid, and----" "Oh! poor Downy! (cried Alfred, ) how sorry Iam!--but, mamma, did that wicked cat kill her? do, dear mamma, makehaste and tell me. "--"Why, Alfred, " said his mother, "you would notwait for me to tell you whether she was killed or not: I am sure youcould not feel sorry for the death of a _nasty brown mouse_; you hatemice, they are such little thieves. "--Little Alfred blushed at whathis mother said, for he remembered they were his own words, and saidto his mother, "Dear mamma, I think I will never wish for the death ofany thing again, and I am very sorry I had that mouse killed; I willnever kill another mouse, if it was to eat all the cakes you mean togive me when I am a good boy. " Mrs. Clifford not help smiling at herlittle boy, but went on. -- [Illustration] "The cat, as I said before, was close to the clod of earth on whichluckless Downy stood, and when she believed her death certain, she hadthe inexpressible joy of finding that her motionless posture had beenthe means of saving her from the vigilant eyes of the cat, who passedon quite unconcerned without taking any notice of her prey. For aninstant Downy could scarce credit her own eyes when she saw her enemypass on; but fearing that if puss should return, she should not againescape so miraculously, she darted away as she hoped unseen, but, silly little thing! she had better have laid where she was, for thekitten beheld her as she ran, and sprung upon her. Poor Downy felt herclaws, but exerting all her speed, she flew to the hedge--thisfriendly hedge which had so often been her refuge, and darting amongthe tangled roots of the hawthorn and ivy, left her pursuers farbehind, and, exhausted with terror and fatigue, remained trembling andpanting till she was half dead. Still she heard the mews of thedisappointed kitten, and the angry purrs of the old cat--who satwatching about the bank for more than an hour, waiting to seize her ifshe ventured forth, [*] but that poor Downy was not in a condition todo, for her poor back still ached with the bruise the kitten had givenher, and she felt in such a panic, she could not have stirred a stepif she had seen a dozen cats. For two whole days poor little Downythought she should have died, and when she was a little better andbegan to feel hungry, there was nothing for her to eat but hay seedsand ivy leaves, or the roots of the trees, and Downy, who had of latebeen used to such good fare, could not bear to eat such dryunpalatable food as this was. [Footnote *: The above-mentioned circumstance, improbable as it may appear, I myself was witness to in the garden not many paces from the door of the house; when the poor little mouse actually escaped the eyes of a cat and her kitten, who passed within a yard of the spot where it stood, by standing in that motionless manner on the top of a clod of earth, nor was it discovered till it left its station, and though caught by the kitten, yet it finally escaped unhurt to the garden hedge. ] "When she used to spend her time in labour and industry, she eat thehardest fare with an excellent appetite, and was thankful andcontented with the least bit of any thing she got, but now she turnedaway disgusted at the coarse food, and it was not until pinched byhunger, that she would eat any of it. And now Downy began to considerwithin herself, whether it would not have been much better and wiserfor her to have returned back to her own house in the meadow, insteadof living so long in idleness and luxury; and Downy found thatidleness brings its own punishment sooner or later, for had she beenat home she would not have been so frightened by the cat, or nearlykilled by the kitten; or even if a cat had come near her nice nest, she would have run away much faster than she did now, for being thensmaller and thinner, she was much nimbler; nor was her daintiness theleast evil that attended her long indulgence, and this she felt moreseverely now she was ill and could not go out to find good food; shehad suffered so much with pain and terror, that she resolved never togo into the garden again, excepting to get provisions when in want. With a sad and penitent heart Downy once more returned to her oldhabitation, but, alas! what was her grief on beholding it a completeruin; her nice warm nest all destroyed, and the pretty green moundquite spoiled! Downy was sadly vexed, for the cruel hay-makers hadwith their pitchforks torn open the turf and scattered her soft bedall round on the grass. She stood gazing with anguish on the desolatescene before her; here was all her spring work entirely ruined, andnow she was ill and had no where to lay her head. 'Ah!' thought she, 'if I had not spent so much time in doing nothing but eating andplaying, I should have escaped the danger of being caught by the cat, and should not have been hurt by the kitten, besides which I think bythis time I might have made up my nest, and have been quitecomfortable again. She was hardly able to work, and what was farworse, she felt very great reluctance to begin her laborious task, so much harm had her living so long in indolence done her, as it doesto every one who indulges in it. Remember, my little Alfred, thatidleness is the root of all evil, as you may see in the case ofDowny:--now which do you think was the happiest and best, --careful andindustrious Downy making her house, and busily procuring food forherself against the winter, --or careless idle Downy doing nothing butplaying and enjoying herself in the garden, eating the fruit, andsleeping among the flowers? now tell me, which do you like best of thetwo?" Alfred considered for a minute or two, and then said, "Why, dearmamma, though I should have liked to have eaten the nice things in thegarden, and lived among the flowers, yet I see that it would have beenbetter for Downy if she had always remained in the field and workedhard; but I am afraid I should have been as silly as Downy, and notliked work. " "That is what I was afraid of, therefore, my dear child, I thought itbest to shew you how wrong she was in indulging herself in thatmanner; and be assured that, whoever does so, will fall intomisfortune. "Necessity obliged Downy at last to overcome her extreme reluctance towork, and she once more began to look out for a proper place for hernew habitation; she visited all the green mounds in the meadow, butalas! they were occupied by the ant, and poor Downy was quite out ofpatience--and at last she was, though with reluctance, forced to takeup her lodgings in the side of the garden bank, quite at the fartherend, where no cats ever came, and at last, finding it was to her owninterest to work, she resolved not to be idle any more, and labouredas hard as ever she had done, and soon completed her new dwelling, having made it a most commodious habitation, in which she lived veryhappily all the summer. When the harvest time arrived, then was Downyvery busy; she went into a neighbouring wheat field, and there shemade a good harvest for herself, and laid in a handsome store of grainfor her winter supply. In her journeys to the corn-fields she met manymice, who, like her, were gathering in their winter stock ofprovisions; but Downy would not stay in the corn-fields, because sheremembered the fate of her nest while she was gone in the garden, soshe came home very regularly every night. [Illustration] "Nothing of any consequence happened to Miss Downy till the latter endof the Autumn; for some days she had missed her provisions, but couldnot account for it in any way, and was at a loss to know who it couldbe that devoured the fruits of her daily labour, but one morning whenshe returned from gleaning in the stubble-fields, she was greatlysurprised, on entering her house, to behold a young stranger busilyemployed in breakfasting in her granery; she stopped at the entranceof her house to examine her visitor, and was struck by the beauty ofhis form; he was of a reddish colour, his hair very long and thick, his breast and fore-feet of a pale buff, and his belly white; he had anice round face, and small oval ears, with quick lively brown eyes andlong handsome black whiskers; in short, he was the prettiest mouseDowny had ever seen, though he was a sad little thief, and had eaten agreat deal of her store. He appeared at first much disconcerted atbeing disturbed and discovered in his depredation, and looked round onevery side for an opening to escape at, but none appearing, he stoodstill, and scratched his ear with one of his hind feet, assuming asunconcerned an air as he could possibly put on; Downy was not sorryshe had discovered who was the thief, but she soon forgave him, thoughshe could not help thinking he was a very dishonest mouse to comeevery day and rob her as he had done, but he was so pretty, and madeso humble an apology for his intruding into her house, that she couldnot find it in her heart to be angry with him long, and they soonbecame very good friends, and at last he proposed her taking him as apartner, which the simple Downy agreed to without hesitation, andshared her house and provisions with the handsome young stranger, whobehaved with great decorum for some time, and was very careful to mindwhat Downy said to him, but at last he began to throw off hisrestraint, and was often getting into mischief in spite of the sageadvice of Downy, who took great pains to warn him from such evilpractices; but Silket would frisk in the garden, robbing thenewly-planted bean and pea crops with the greatest audacity, notminding what careful Downy said, who represented to him the danger herun of being killed by cats, or mousehunts, or caught in traps; butSilket, like a naughty mouse as he was, only laughed and made light ofher fears; and when at last she appeared vexed at his disobedience, hepromised never to go into the garden again; but, like many more, hebroke his promise directly he was out of her sight; and beside this, he was sadly idle, and was I am sorry to say, much fonder of play thanwork, and Downy was obliged to remonstrate with him on such badbehaviour, and said, 'Silket, how can you expect me to work for bothyou and myself? you are a sad partner. Silket was very humble, andpromised to be more industrious for the future, and that veryafternoon he ransacked a new crop of peas, which the gardener had sownthat day, and came home laden with the spoils; next day he broughthome hoard of nuts from the garden, and Downy thought if he would butcontinue so good, she should be very happy, for her Silket was a verypretty creature, and she was very fond of him. But pretty creaturesare not always the best, as she soon found to her cost, for when theweather set in cold, then Mr. Silket refused to work, or even to stirout of the house, but lay rolled round like a ball in the soft hay, and slept, only just getting up to eat; and Downy was much grieved, for she feared their stock of food would never last out the winter, if he did not help her make some addition to it, but Silket begged hernot to be under any concern, for there was plenty for them both; andon her again expressing her fears on the subject, he gave her two orthree severe bites on her ear, and squeaked most vehemently, shewinghis anger at being found fault with, and then laid down again with asulky air of displeasure; while poor Downy almost broken-hearted, slowly and full of sorrow, left her house, and strolled along the sideof the bank quite disconsolate, and she resolved never to go backagain to her ungrateful husband, who had treated her so unkindly, butleave him in quiet possession of her dwelling. "Simple little Downy! she might have known beforehand how he wouldhave treated her, as she was so well acquainted with his propensity tostealing, and she was a very foolish mouse to take for a partner onewho shewed, from the first, that he liked better to play about andsteal, than to labour and get an honest living. Downy ought to haveconsidered all this, but she thought him so pretty, that she forgotall his misdeeds, and very imprudently shared her food and house withhim. It is true, that he promised very fair, and said he would workfor her, and that she should have nothing to do but just to eat, andsleep, and play; and Downy (who did not think that such a pretty softcreature could tell so many stories) believed all he said, and thiswas the consequence of her imprudence. "So you see, Alfred, that we must not always judge by appearances, because I know rather a pretty creature, with bright blue eyes, who, like Silket, can steal, and tell fibs, and who likes to play betterthan learn a lesson and read. " Alfred coloured up, for he knew allalong that his mother meant he was like Silket; so he felt a littleashamed, and did not make any answer; and his mother continued herstory. "Poor little Downy laid bewailing her sad misfortune in the cold dampgrass, determining never to go home to her little tyrant again, soangry was she at his cruel conduct. --'Ah! foolish mouse that I was, (said she), why did not I continue to live by myself when I was sohappy! I might have known how he would have behaved to me, but I willnever return to him, he may enjoy by himself that food which he lovesso much more than he does me, ungrateful that he is!' In this mannershe was uttering her complaints, when she heard a soft padding stepbehind her, and a mournful noise made her turn round, and she beheldher penitent Silket, (for it was him) who advancing with a sorrowfulair, humbly besought her forgiveness, and rubbed his velvet cheek inan imploring manner against her's; his lively brown eyes were nowtroubled, and very sorrowful. Downy could not resist his beseechinglooks, but forgave him for all his past offences, and took him oncemore into favour, on his promising to be good in future and never tobite her ears or tail again. Silket was very sorry for his late badbehaviour, and he resolved to be very good and do so no more, for hedid love Downy very much, though he loved himself better. Heaccompanied her home with great affection, and they were happier forsome weeks than they had ever been before; he was so attentive andkind, and seemed to study only to please her; he spent day after dayin searching among the dry leaves in the garden for filberts; and whenhe could not procure any thing else, he brought her crocus roots, andcarrots out of the garden. One evening he had been out later than usual, he did not see Downy'sbright eyes looking out from among the dry leaves and moss for hisreturn, and he was fearful some ill had befallen her. As he approachedthe house, he thought he heard several little squeaking sounds, and onentering his nest, found that Downy in his absence had become themother of four ittle helpless blind mice, which she was suckling. Silket was overjoyed, he licked the little ones with much affection, and behaved with the greatest tenderness to Downy; he presented herthe filbert he had brought home, and praised the beauty of his littlefamily, though none but himself could see that they possessed any, forlittle mice are very ugly till they can open their eyes, and have gotfur on them; for like puppies, and kittens, and rabbits, they are allborn blind, and do not open their eyes for many days after. No mouse could behave better than Silket now did; he would not sufferDowny to stir out in the cold, on any account, for, though it was thelatter end of March, the weather was unusually severe, and the frostvery hard; Silket was out almost the whole day searching for nice foodfor Downy, and getting soft moss to keep his young ones warm, --but oneday he grieved Downy much and did a deal of mischief, --he wantedsomething to cover his little ones with, and what did he do, but wentinto the garden to the hedge where Mrs. Ball had hung out her linen todry, and the wicked Silket gnawed and bit one of the old lady's whiteaprons almost to pieces, carrying home as many of the rags as hismouth would hold, to his house. Downy was sadly vexed when she heardwhat he had been doing, and she was forced to read him a very longlecture on being so mischievous, while Mr. Mischief amused himself bylaying the rags out to the greatest advantage, admiring the whitequilt he had brought home for his little ones' bed, and secretlyresolving to go and fetch the remaining fragments, and though he sawhow grave Downy looked, he did not think he had done so much harm inbiting the old lady's apron; so he cast a cunning eye at Downy, to seeif she was observing him, for he wanted sadly to get the rest of theapron, only he did not like to disoblige her commands, and get anotherscolding; but she saw what he was after, and she begged him not to go, for she said, she knew that such mischievous ways would come to nogood end, and that he would get caught in a trap, or killed by somecat, or fall into some great danger, 'And, (added she, ) what should Ido, Silket, left with these four helpless little mice to provide for?'Silket immediately saw the impropriety of his conduct, and he neverspoiled any more of good Mrs. Ball's linen, though he often came inthe way of it. The poor old lady was greatly disturbed at themisfortune which had befallen her best muslin apron, and threatened tohave the ratcatcher's dogs and ferrets to hunt the garden and thehedge, if any thing more was destroyed; so that it was a good thingthat Silket took Downy's advice in that respect, or he would certainlyhave been killed for his pains. "At the end of three weeks the little mice began to be quite lively, and to grow very pretty little creatures; they much resembled theirfather in his mischeivous inclinations, and it needed all Downy'sprudent management to keep them in order, for they would frisk out oftheir nest, and scud about in the meadow, going so for out of sight, and staying so late, that Downy was in a great fright lest any mishapshould befall them, as to Silket, he seemed to take great delight intheir pranks. They would lay on the bank, enjoying themselves and basking in thesun, almost all day long. When it was fine weather, sometimes, onebolder than the rest would run up a little tree not more than a yardhigh, and clinging to the top, look down with triumph on hiscompanions; then, if he heard the dead leaves shake, the timid littlething whisked down, and away they all four scudded, hiding themselvesin the holes of the hedge, till they thought the danger past. Downy now began to feel the cares of a family, and she was often muchgrieved at the disobedient behaviour of the little mice. Velvet wasthe only good-behaved one, and she was bad enough in all reason. Theywere incorrigible little thieves, which quality they inherited fromtheir father, for no sooner were their parents out of the way, thanthey found their way to the granary, and though Downy and Silket wereall day busied in getting food for them, and fed them with the best ofevery thing, the wicked little things stole the corn, and eat evenmore than they wanted; they grew so fat and sleek and wanton, that allthe field-mice in the meadow declared they were quite spoiled, andDowny ought to keep them under more restraint, and punish them whenthey behaved ill. As they grew older they grew worse and worse; Downyhad warned them of all the dangers which they ran in roaming so farfrom home, and told them of the cat that haunted the garden, and ofthe mousehunt, and the great white owl, but these bad mice paid noattention to what their kind good mother said to them. "Among other things, she begged them not to go near the brick trapswhich the gardener had set among the beans and peas, to entice simplemice to eat the bait, and then they were sure to be killed, by thetrap falling on them; but they did not regard those prudent counselsin the least, and a day or two after, they all sallied out into thegarden, (with Whitefoot, their leader) in search of something nice. After they had rummaged the ground under the nut-tree for some timewithout finding a single nut, they came to a row of late-sown peas;these they made a terrible havoc amongst, regardless of their mother'sadvice. They were going home, well pleased with their regale, when, unluckily, Whitefoot espied a parcel of nice wheat, laid out verycarefully under a sort of brick house; now Whitefoot run all round itand thought it stood too firm to be knocked down, and as he was rathergreedy, he determined to venture under, and eat up the wheat; he wasin such a hurry, for fear that either of his companions should comeand want to share his prize, that, in his haste, he pushed down a bitof a stick which held the brick up--down it fell, and haplessWhitefoot was crushed to death in an instant. [Illustration] "This was the effects of his disobedience to his mother. "The noise of the fallen brick alarmed the timid little mice; awaythey ran as fast as they could, nor did they once stop to look behindto see what had become of their brother Whitefoot, who was found nextmorning by the gardener, under the brick, and was given to the blackcat to eat. Now had he minded what his mother had told him the daybefore, he would have been alive and frisking about with the rest. See, Alfred, what comes of disobedience and greediness. " said hismother. "Yes, mamma, (said Alfred) I will remember how poor Whitefootwas served, and not disobey you, though you know, I could not bekilled by a brick trap as he was. " "No, Alfred, but you might get hurtin a hundred different ways by going where I bid you not--recollectwhen I had so often told you not to play with the fire, how you burntyour hand, by lighting bits of paper; and if I had not come in, youwould have been burnt to death. " "Yes, mamma, and it hurt me so much, I have never done it since. " "No more would Whitefoot have gone near atrap again, if he had only broken one of his limbs, instead of beingkilled, but he should have minded what was said at first. But youshall hear how the others behaved after his death. "Downy was much shocked at the death of her poor Whitefoot, and shetold the other little mice to take warning by their brother's sadfate, and not go near any more brick traps, but be contented with thefood which she and their father provided for them. This they promisedto do, and they were very sorry for the loss of Whitefoot, who was themost nimble of them all, and at the head of all their pranks, for hewas usually the ring-leader and the most daring of the party. "For a few days they were more orderly, but their bad habits returnedagain, and they forgot all their promises, and were as naughty as everthey had been--even Silket was shocked at them, and was forced tochastise the two most unruly, by biting their ears. Wilful run away, and came to a most untimely death. --He invaded, one night, a bee-hive, and made great havoc in the stores of honey, eating the honey-combs, and destroying the work of the poor bees--but at last he was punishedseverely, for the bees, enraged at his lawless conduct, came in abody, and stung their enemy in a thousand different places, so that, unable to escape, he died in great agony. " "And did bees ever sting a mouse to death in that manner, mamma?"asked Alfred. "Yes, Alfred, and if you are a good boy, I will read youa long account of bees, and how they build their cells, and make theirwax and honey. " "But, mamma, there is nothing about their killing amouse in it, is there?" "Yes, my dear child, I will tell you all aboutit one day, but let me finish my story first. " [Illustration] "There were now only two young mice left, Velvet and Sprightly. Velvetwas so shocked at the bad end which her two brothers had come to, thatshe resolved not to be naughty again, but try by her good conduct, tomake amends for her thoughtless behaviour--but when she told Sprightlyof her intentions, the wicked Sprightly ridiculed her, and said sheshould go and seek her fortune in the meadow and garden, where no onecould scold her, and where she might do as she pleased; and with thisresolution she set off, and they never saw her again; for having nohouse to go to, the white owl saw her as he was flying out oneevening, and soon made an end of Miss Sprightly, who had better havestaid at home with Velvet, and her father and mother. Velvet was thecomfort and pride of her parents; she helped them in all theirlabours, and assisted them in enlarging their house, and providingfood against the winter. As she encreased in goodness, she grewprettier, and every one admired her, she was so clean, and her skinwas as soft as satin, and looked quite bright and glossy. Velvet wasgenerally up and abroad before sunrise, and enjoyed being out in thedew; she always returned home loaded with grain; and they were allquite happy and comfortable; for Silket was very good, and Downy hadnothing to make her uncomfortable, being blessed with a good husbandand a good daughter. "But a sad accident happened which deprived poor Downy of all means ofproviding for her wants, and gave Silket and Velvet the greatest painand uneasiness on her account. One day, Downy had been by herself inthe garden, and in passing under a gooseberry bush, she did not see atrap which had been set to catch little birds, and it caught one ofher poor little feet, and she lay struggling in the greatest pain, and shrieking lamentably--at last by a violent effort, she got loose, but with the loss of one of her fore-feet. Sadly wounded, and cryingpiteously, she at last gained her home, and Silket and Velvet foundher exhausted with pain, and almost dying; they were greatly grievedat the misfortune, and lamented bitterly the sad fate of poor Downy, and they feared greatly lest they should lose her, but good nursingand great care at last restored her, in some measure, after whichVelvet and Silket would never permit her to go out to get food, butalways brought the best for her, and she lived quite at her ease, onlyshe never was so strong as before. [Illustration] "Velvet strove by all the means in her power, to make her motherhappy; that she might not feel her misfortune so severely; and shesucceeded so well that Downy became quite cheerful and contented, andnever complained or repined at her lameness. "The Summer passed happily away, but the sudden death of poor Silket, once more filled them with grief. The innocent little creature wassleeping under the nut-trees in the garden, one warm morning inSeptember; he had been collecting nuts to carry home, but being tired, he laid down to repose himself in the sun, and unfortunately fellasleep, nor did he wake till he found himself in the grasp of themerciless black cat, who springing upon her defenceless prey, strangled him in an instant. There was no fond Downy near, noraffectionate Velvet, to receive his last sighs, nor give him aid. The evening came, but no Silket returned to the disconsolate Downy;another day passed, but they saw nothing of Silket, and they were atlast certain that he must have been killed. This heavy blow almostovercame Downy, and it was with the greatest difficulty, Velvet couldpersuade her to eat and be comforted; but every thing around themserved to recall the image, and remind them of the loss, of theirbeloved Silket, and this gave them both great pain. At last, Velvet, without saying any thing to her mother, stole away while she wasasleep, and having found a pretty spot, some way from farmer Ball'sland, she made a new house, much more convenient than the one theythen lived in; it was a long time before it was completed, but when itwas quite finished, and well stocked with grain, she brought Downy tosee it: it was situated in a pretty garden, on a beautiful slopinggreen bank, under the shade of a fir tree, not many yards from a nicewhite brick house, the front of which was covered with vines andwall-fruit; there were pots of balsams and geraniums, placed on thebeds opposite the windows and glass door. " [Illustration] "Why, mamma, (exclaimed Alfred, suddenly looking up in his mother'sface, ) that was just like our garden, and our house. " and he ran tothe window, and looked out into the garden, saying with greatvivacity, "Yes, mamma, it is the same; it is our garden with thefir-tree and the bank, and all the flowers, exactly the same!" And heturned an inquiring eye unto his mother. Mrs. Clifford smiled, but made no reply to his exclamations ofsurprise, and went on as if she had not heard him. "In this quietpretty spot they settled themselves, and Downy hoped to spend the restof her days in quiet; she wanted for nothing, for Velvet provided forall her wants. Downy thought, if she should ever be deprived of her, it would break her heart, and she must soon be starved to death, asshe could not work now, as she had done formerly. These thoughts madeher often very sorrowful, and Velvet thought she seemed to droop, andlose her spirits and appetite, so Velvet thought to get something niceto please her; she stole into the house one day, when nobody saw her, and after some little time, she found her way into the cupboard, whereshe smelt something very nice, and beheld a new plum-cake. 'Ah!' saidshe, 'how my sick mother will like a bit of this cake!' so having madea hearty meal herself off it, she carried away the rest for hermother, not thinking she had done any harm. " "Ah, mamma, (cried Alfred with tears in his eyes, ) how I wish I hadnot set the trap to catch that good Velvet; she might have had mycake, and welcome, if I had but known what she took it for, how sorryI am! I wish Velvet was alive again, with all my heart. " "Did not I tell you, Alfred, you would be sorry for killing the _nastybrown mouse_, before the day was over. " "Oh! yes, dear mamma, and so I am indeed; I wish you had told me thestory before, and then I should not have set the trap. --And so Isuppose poor Downy will die, because she has no one to feed her. " "Well, Alfred, shall I finish my story? "Yes, if you please, mamma, but you don't know any more of it, doyou?" "Only this, when Downy found Velvet did not return, she died ofgrief. Thus ended the LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF THE FIELD-MOUSE. " "Ah, mamma, " cried Alfred, bursting into tears, "what a cruel boy Ihave been! I have killed both Downy and Velvet--I will never be socruel again. " Mrs. Clifford, charmed with the sensibility of her little boy, kissedhim most tenderly, saying, "Dry your tears, my sweet Alfred, andresolve not to be so desirous of the death of a little animal again. Though it is very necessary to kill them sometimes, or they would soondestroy all our food and clothes; still when we are forced fromnecessity to kill any thing, we should do it with as much humanity aswe can, and never inflict on them unnecessary pain. I should myselfhave been forced to set the trap for Velvet, only I did not like tosee my little Alfred, merely from revenge, wishing so eagerly for thedeath of a poor mouse, who did not know it was doing any harm ineating the cake. " Alfred kissed his mother, and thanked her for her kindness in tellinghim the story; and wiping his tears away, went into the garden to playtill tea was ready. THE END. Dean and Munday, Printers, Threadneedle-street. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Errors and Inconsistencies (noted by transcriber) Spellings such as "recal" and "befel", and "eat" as a past-tense form, are unchanged. The author almost always uses "lay" (present) for"lie", and "laid" for "lay" (past); no attempt was made to correctthese forms. and sat off to look for more provisions she sat off to look for a proper situation [_both unchanged; "set off" occurs only once_] her mound was all covered with flowers [monnd] her nice warm nest all destroyed [destoyed] will fall into misfortune [misfortue] his intruding into her house [kouse] he brought home hoard of nuts [_text unchanged: missing "a"?_] and Downy (who did not think . .. So many stories) [(and Downy who did not . .. )] four ittle helpless blind mice [_error uncorrected because it was irresistible_] which she was suckling. [suckling, ] to get the rest of the apron, [_comma invisible_] his mischeivous inclinations [_spelling unchanged_] This was the effects of his disobedience [_text unchanged_] . .. Looked quite bright and glossy. [glossy, ] . .. Up and abroad before sunrise, [sunrise. ] [_these matching errors come at consecutive line-ends_] exactly the same!" [same?"]