A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



for years have managed to escape the stoats. 

 Time after time I have saved the lives of these 

 mice. The three are pets, and intelligent 

 enough to know that I will protect them from 

 their fierce and relentless foe. In the night- 

 time, if hard pressed, they dive into my bed, 

 while by day they sound the danger-call, 

 knowing full well that I will come to the 

 rescue and drive away their enemy. 



To a stranger these mice look as much alike 

 as peas in a pod, but for me they possess 

 individualities as marked and distinct as could 

 be found in three human beings. One of the 

 three, the mouse that uses the roof for a play- 

 ground, always nests under a stone wall just 

 back of the cabin. Number two nests in the 

 cabin summer and winter. When the weather 

 is warm she makes a nest on a high shelf, but 

 in cold weather her nest is on the floor under 

 a pile of newspapers. Number three nests 

 where I nest. When I sleep in the cabin, the 

 nest of this mouse is always there. When I 

 sleep in the open air, under a roof to keep off 

 the rain, the mouse follows me, nesting under 

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