58 DENIZENS OF THE DESERT 



their labors ended quickly; for these mice knew 

 how skillful are the nimble paws of skunks in 

 catching them, and they hied themselves away 

 into the rock crannies on her first approach. 



After this the mice were about in numbers 

 every evening at the approach of darkness. 

 I counted twenty-two about my out-of-doors 

 table at one time. They were everywhere, under 

 the table, on the table, and every other avail- 

 able place. While I sat still watching them they 

 ran up my trouser legs inside and out; they 

 nibbled butter from my knife, and only too 

 often ran across my plate. 



They were among the most industrious little 

 creatures I ever saw, rivaling the ants and run- 

 ning them a close second in competition for 

 Solomon's word of commendation. These busy 

 little rodents every night covered every inch of 

 ground about my house in their search for food. 

 Not a crumb was missed, and the thousands of 

 tiny close-set footmarks left in the dust by 

 morning showed the thoroughness with which 

 they searched. 



After the evening meal there was always an 

 abundance of crumbs for them and they stuffed 



