98 



SEVEN 



the mouse that never drinks 



FOR SEVERAL YEARS I WAS ON QUITE INTIMATE TERMS WITH 



the common house mouse and I attempted to celebrate his 

 charm in print. There is, therefore, nothing odd in the fact 

 that I have recently been associating with the so-called 

 kangaroo rat of the desert, who is, really, more mouselike 

 than ratlike. I keep a pair of them in a glass case from 

 which they enjoy frequent sorties to sit on the palm of my 

 hand, rest in my pocket, or run through paper tubes which 

 they seem to accept as easily recognizable substitutes for 

 an underground passageway. 



