MICE. 219 



scratching against the legs of the table. I guessed the 

 cause, and tried to frighten the climber away ; but I 

 suspect he mounted by the bed-clothes, for I presently 

 heard something flop into the tea. All was silent, and 

 [ concluded the intruder was drowned ; but of course, 

 whatever my thirst, I did not attempt to drink. When 

 daylight came, there sat a poor mouse holding up his 

 little chin just above the liquid. Had he moved, he 

 must have been suffocated ; and he had been all those 

 hours in this position. It was impossible to take away 

 a life so hardly earned, and he was allowed to rejoin 

 his companions. 



The headquarters of my mice seemed to be a large 

 closet in one corner of the room, from which they con- 

 stantly issued, and to which they retreated on the least 

 alarm ; for it was always accessible, in consequence of 

 the door not closing properly. They often appeared to 

 me to hold a council, for they would sally forth in a 

 body, not giddily and as if by chance, but with all the 

 gravity of diplomatic characters, and form a circle, when 

 deliberations commenced. They were carried on in a 

 language between a squeak and a chatter, and occasion- 

 ally one would rise and place himself in another part 

 of the circle. I would have given a great deal to have 

 understood what was going on ; but as I could not, 

 I occasionally disturbed them by laughing, when they 

 huddled back to the closet ; and when I grew stronger, 

 I sometimes dashed a pillow in among them, which 

 made the poor senators breathless with agitation, and 

 scuffle under the furniture, till they thought they might 

 gain the closet in safety. I little imagined the deeds 

 committed in that domicile, or I might not have been 

 BO indulgent to them. It was no less than gnawing 



