Friends and Helpers Part 16

A MOUSE'S STORY.

Men call me a thief. I wonder if they are right. I used to live in the fields, and I found nuts and acorns in the woods for my little family.

Then a man came. He dug up my field and planted his own crops. He destroyed my home and killed my little children. He said that the nuts were his, and the field, too, was his. I thought they were mine.

Now I have to live on what I can find near his house. I am sure I eat a great deal that he would not care for. Usually I am half-starved. It seems to me as if the world were big enough for me to have a corner of it in peace.

I dare say the man thinks that he is wholly in the right. He says I am very troublesome, and he sets a trap every night to catch me. One night I was caught by the paw, and held for hours in an agony of fright and pain. I have been lame ever since. He would have been kinder if he had killed me outright.

There is another dreadful trap which does not hurt at all at first, and it is often used for this reason. There is a little door which opens easily, and you find yourself in a wire house. There you starve to death, unless some one comes to drown you. If we are to be caught in traps, I wish that we might be put out of pain at once.

WISE RATS.

Rats are clever and intelligent, and in their way are very useful. In large cities they eat the garbage which collects in harbors and at the mouths of drains. This would cause sickness if it were not removed.

Although the rat's work takes him into the foulest places, he always keeps himself neat and tidy. To wash his coat he uses his tongue and paws in the same way that a cat uses hers, and he invariably takes such a bath after he has been eating or working.

Rats are disliked and hunted by men, yet they often s.h.i.+eld our homes from the danger of disease. When rats infest a place it is proof that there is work for them to do, and though they may easily become a plague, we should remember that it was probably our own carelessness which first brought them.

The intelligence shown by rats is remarkable. They have frequently been known to carry eggs up and down stairs in their paws; one rat pus.h.i.+ng the egg and others receiving it. It happened, one day, that a trap was set and carefully watched. A young rat was about to step upon the fatal spring, when the watcher saw an old rat rush to the rescue. The little one was seized by the tail and promptly dragged off to his hole.

Probably he was told to be less reckless in future.

Rats have great courage and devotion, as many stories prove. Once, when some rats were being driven from a s.h.i.+p, a young rat was seen carefully making its way along a rope, with an old and feeble rat upon its back.

It shrank from the stick in a seaman's hand, and it might easily have saved its own life if it had been willing to leave its companion.

Instead of running away, however, it went on bravely and carefully in the face of danger. The gallant animal was allowed to reach a place of safety, amid the cheers of the crew, who knew how to appreciate such devotion and sacrifice.

Rats are said to become warmly attached to the friends who care for them. A minister had a pet rat which liked to sit on his desk. One day, having poked its nose into the ink-bottle, the rat was in evident discomfort in consequence. The minister went for a saucer of water, saying, "There, wash your face!" The neat little fellow carefully scrubbed its inky nose, first with one paw and then with the other, holding up at last a clean and satisfied face for its friend's inspection.

While rats may be useful and brave and wise, they are not good housemates. Cleanliness and care, however, are usually sufficient to keep them out of houses and storerooms, and a good cat makes an excellent policeman. In our wish to be rid of the company of the rats there is no excuse for treating them with cruelty.

THE SQUIRREL'S STORY.

Do you know who planted that little b.u.t.ternut tree in the field? I planted it; I, a tiny gray squirrel.

To tell the truth, I did not think of setting out a tree when I dropped my nut in the ground. I meant to leave it in a safe place until I was ready to eat it, and I forgot where it was. The first thing I knew it was sending up a fine green shoot through the loose earth.

I suppose you think I steal your nuts. Please remember that I plant nut trees, too. That ought to be put down to my credit.

I have a very pleasant home, high up in a large elm tree. It is carefully hidden so that the boys may not see it. That is the most important thing to think of in building a house.

My house is made of the smallest twigs, of dry gra.s.s, and of straw that I found in the field. I built it near a house where all the family are kind to me. The children feed me with apples and nuts.

I have had some happy days in my life, but I have had some sad ones, too. The saddest days were when I lost my two little children.

The brightest child I ever had was Chippy. He liked to ask questions and look at every new thing he saw. This was all very well if he had been a little more careful. One day when I was away, Chippy saw a box under the tree. Down he went to see what was in the box. Of course you know what happened. Chippy was caught in a trap.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LITTLE FREEHOLD. By S. J. Carter.]

The boy who had set the trap carried Chippy home and put him in a cage.

He was kind to the little fellow and gave him fruit and nuts to eat.

Still Chippy was not happy. He longed for the green trees and a frolic in the open fields.

For several days after Chippy was caught, I was very unhappy, but I tried to be cheerful for the sake of my dear little Bushy Tail. Then I lost this little one in a way that is almost too sad to think of.

Bushy Tail was playing in a tree one day, running up and down and jumping from limb to limb, when some boys saw him among the green leaves.

They began at once to stone him. Poor little Bushy Tail ran up the tree as far as he could, but at last a stone hit him. For a minute he clung trembling to the branch, and I hoped he was not hurt, but another stone struck him and he fell.

The boys shouted when they saw him fall, but a little girl ran and picked him up so gently that I have loved her ever since that day. I was his mother, but I could not help him.

She carried him to a house near by and put him in a box filled with soft gra.s.s, but the little fellow was badly hurt. Three days later I saw her bury him in her little garden, and I knew his pain was over.

I went home feeling that I could never be happy again, but a great surprise was in store for me. When I had climbed up to my nest, there sat Chippy, safe and sound.

"My dearest Chippy, how did you get out of the cage?" I asked.

"Frank let me out," said the joyful Chippy. "He was watching me this morning, and at last he said, 'Chippy, I don't believe I should like to run in a wheel if I had been used to running in trees. I think those wires must make your feet sore. I am sure I should like my own home better than this dull cage. Chippy, old fellow, I am going to let you out.'

"Didn't I run! I forgot to say 'Thank you,' I was so happy, but I think he knew how glad I was."

FORBEARANCE.

Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?

Loved the wood-rose, and left it on its stalk?

At rich men's tables eaten bread and pulse?

Unarmed, faced danger with a heart of trust?

And loved so well a high behavior, In man or maid, that thou from speech refrained, n.o.bility more n.o.bly to repay?

O, be my friend, and teach me to be thine!

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

THE STEEL TRAP.

In a little village in the northwestern part of America there once lived a boy named Amos Hunt. In that part of the country the trade in furs is extensively carried on, and Amos frequently caught some of the smaller wild animals in his steel traps.