the rest of the morning in the house, and try to console Downy for his bumps and bruises, it would be a very good thing."
Nibble looked grave at this. He would have preferred sitting in a tree, and hearing the birds sing, and wondering where their nests might be, and how many eggs there might be in them, to spending the lovely, sunny morning in the house. But he went in without a word, remembering that Downy also had to stay in the house through his carelessness, and with aches and pains which he somehow had escaped.
He found the baby mouse curled up on the sofa in the library, looking very forlorn, with a handkerchief tied round his head. Mrs. Posset was sitting beside him, reading to him, for though Downy was a very little boy, he was very fond of stories. His eyes brightened when he saw Nibble. "Oh! Nibby!" he cried. "Did dey catf de cat?"
"Indeed, I hope not!" said Mrs. Posset. "It is a strange thing in the nature of boys, that they like to see cats tormented."
"But I don't like to see them hurt, Mrs. Posset!" said Nibble. "It is fun to see them run, but the dogs never catch them, so no harm is done. And it is good for the cats to have a little exercise, I am sure, for they are lazy creatures."
"Humph!" said Mrs. Posset. "Well, I am reading to Downy now, Master Nibble, so – "
"Wouldn't you like me to take the book, Mrs. Posset?" asked Nibble. "I must stay in the house till dinner, and I could read to Downy."
"Oh! yes, Nibby, read!" cried Downy.
"Very well, Master Nibble, and that is just what will please me, for I have not my spectacles by me, and the print troubles my eyes. Besides, the child's clothes are torn to shrivers, (this was a pet word of Mrs. Posset's, and I think she must have invented it herself,) and I must attend to them at once."
So Mrs. Posset, with an approving nod, trotted off to the nursery, and Nibble sat down by the sofa.
"What shall I read, Downy boy?" he asked.
"Wead Pinfkin!" said Downy very decidedly.
"'Princekin,' eh?" said Nibble, "Well, here it is, so listen! And perhaps, if you were to shut your eyes, Downy, you might see some of the pretty things that Princekin saw."
So Nibble opened the book, from which Mrs. Posset had been reading, and read this little rhyme:
"Princekin sits on his nursery throne,
Prettiest Princekin, all alone,
Sighing a sigh, and moaning a moan,
'Oh – dear —me! oh!'
'Princekin beautiful, Princekin dear,
Tell us your troubles, and do not fear!'
'Nobody come, and nobody here,
Nobody p'ay wiz me, oh!'
"'What! no little boys, and no little girls,
To play with Princekin, pearl of pearls?
Then lift your head, with its crown of curls,
And we'll do better without, oh!
Open the window and call the flowers
Birds and beasts from their trees and bowers,
To come and play with this Prince of ours,
And make him with laughter shout, oh!'
"Princekin raises his sapphire eyes,
Diamond tear-drop quickly dries,
Stares and stares in such great surprise
He doesn't know what to do, oh!
In at the window, low and high,
Hundreds of creatures creep and fly,
Vines and flowerets clambering by,
Of every shape and hue, oh!
"Doves are lighting on Princekin's knee,
Close in his curls hums a honey bee,
Roses are climbing around his wee
Sweet hands, for to cling and kiss, oh!
Beetles hover on gauzy wing,
Blue-bells, lily-bells, chime and ring,
Bull-frogs whistle and robins sing,
And see, what an owl is this, oh!
"Squirrel is whispering in his ear,
'Princekin beautiful, Princekin dear,
Leave this stupid close nursery here,
Come to the woods with me, oh!'
Daisy is murmuring at his feet,
'Princekin lovely, and Princekin sweet,
Come live with us, 'mid the corn and wheat,
Out in the field so free, oh!'
"Round they flutter, and round they dance,
Wheel and hover and creep and prance,
Bird, beast, blossom, all bent on the chance
Of winning the pearl of boys, oh!
Clinging and kissing o'er and o'er,
Singing, chattering, more and more, —
But oh!– who slammed the nursery door,
And made such a dreadful noise, oh!
"Princekin sits on his nursery throne,
Prettiest Princekin, all alone.
Sighing a sigh and moaning a moan,
'Oh – dear —me, oh!
Had such a bootiful, bootiful p'ay!
No! I not been as'eep, I say!
And now dem's everyone gone away,
Nobody left but me, oh!'"
Then Nibble stopped reading, and closed the book softly, for Downy was just as fast asleep as Princekin had been.
"That is always the way!" he said to himself. "I never saw a child sleep so much in the daytime. In fact, there is no use in reading to him, unless you want him to go to sleep. But perhaps," he added "that is just what Mrs. Posset did want, and it is the best thing to do when one cannot go out of doors. Heigh ho! how pleasant it is out there! I wonder where Brighteyes is! She might come in and stay with me, I think, if she knows I am in the house." And Nibble sat down by the window, and looked mournfully out into the garden.
I also had been wondering where Brighteyes was, for I had not seen her since breakfast. I was just going to look in another part of the mirror, (for I can see the whole of the garden in it, and more too,) when I heard a deep sigh at my elbow. I turned, and saw my dog standing by, gazing into the mirror with a very wistful look. I followed the direction of his eyes, and saw that the cat was still up in the tree, and the dogs still at the foot of it. Gruff was tired of jumping, which indeed was not exactly in his line; and had gone quietly to sleep; but Grim and Grab kept up the game, occasionally lying down to rest and take breath, and then going at it again.
"What ails thee, Bmfkmgth?" I asked. "Doth the sight of the other dogs grieve thee?"
"Nay, master!" he answered. "But oh! I fain would have a cat to chase. Is there no Cat-Star, good master, whence thou couldst get me a cat? see now, how merry these dogs have been!"
"Truly," I replied, "there is no Cat-Star; and if there were, thou wouldst be none the better off, for I would not have such noise and strife in my quiet home. Art thou not happy? here thou hast no work to do; canst eat green cheese all day, if it please thee, and sport with
