31

ONCE upon a time a Cat and a Mouse were playing together in the kitchen of the farm-house at Spring Vale, when, quite by accident, the Cat bit off the Mouse's tail.

It was very strange that the Cat did not bite off the Mouse's head; but this Mouse was a good Mouse, and never stole any cheese, and so the Cat only bit off her tail. Mousey was very much vexed to see that her tail was gone, so she said to Pussy,

"Oh, dear Pussy! do give me my tail again." "No, that I will not," said Pussy, "till you get me some milk for my breakfast."

"Oh, the Cow will give me some," said the Mouse.

So she frisked and jumped, and then she ran Till she came to the Cow, and thus began :—

"Please, Cow, give me some milk; I want to give Pussy milk, and Pussy will give me my own tail again "

"So I will, Mousey, if you get me some hay for my breakfast," "said the Cow.

"Oh, the Farmer will give me some," said the Mouse.

So she frisked and jumped, and then she ran Till she came to the Farmer, and thus began:

"Please, Mr. Farmer, give me some hay; I want to give the Cow hay. The Cow will give me some milk, I will give Pussy milk, and Pussy will give me my own tail again.”

"So I will, Mousey, if you get me some bread for my breakfast,” said the Farmer.

"Oh, the Baker will give me some," said the Mouse.

66 Please, Mr. Butcher, give me some meat; I want to give the Baker meat. The Baker will give me some bread, I will give the Farmer bread; the Farmer will give me some hay, I will give the Cow hay; the Cow will give me some milk, I will give Pussy milk, and Pussy will give me my own tail again."

"So I will, Mousey, if you'll eat up the crumbs that have fallen at my breakfast," said the Butcher. "Oh, that I will," said the Mouse; and she soon cleared the floor of every crumb.

Then the Butcher gave the Mouse some meat, and the Mouse gave the Baker the meat, and the Baker gave the Mouse some bread, and the Mouse gave the Farmer the bread, and the Farmer gave the Mouse some hay, and the Mouse gave the Cow the hay, and the Cow gave the Mouse some milk, and the Mouse gave Pussy milk, and then Pussy gave poor little Mousey her own tail again.

And she frisked and jumped, and away she ran, And cried out to Pussy, "Catch me if you can !"

32

ONCE upon a time an old Dame was sweeping out her cottage, when, to her great joy, she found a silver sixpence. The good Dame sat down to think what she should do with such a good piece of luck, for you must know that in days gone by a silver sixpence was worth much more than it is now-a-days; and first of all she thought she would buy a fat duck, and then she thought she would buy a hen that laid eggs well, but after thinking and thinking for a long, long time, she thought at last she would buy a pig! So the old Dame put up her broom in the closet, and then got out her best high-heeled shoes, and her best cap, and her steeple-crowned hat, and made herself very smart, and then taking her good old stick, the old Dame set out for the market-town close by.

The way to the town was through green lanes and across large meadows, and as the old Dame clambered over the stile at the end of the meadow, she sat on the top to rest herself and to think again on her good luck. Then she went on again till she came to the town, and she went straight to the market-place, and there she found a boy with a nice white pig to sell; so, after a little bargaining, she gave the boy the silver sixpence for the white pig, and then she tied a piece of string to one of the pig's hind-legs, and began to drive him home.

Piggy went through the streets very well, only grunting sometimes and running into the gutter when he saw anything he could eat, until at last they came to the stile into the meadow. The old Dame tried to lift the pig over the lower bar of the stile, but he squeaked and grunted, and wriggled about till the old Dame was quite tired, and then piggy lay down and would not stir. Just then a little dog came trotting up, so the old Dame said to him,

"Good dog, bite pig; pig will not get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night."

But the dog would not. So the old Dame held up her stick and said,

"Good stick, beat dog; dog will not bite pig; pig will not get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night."

But the stick would not. So the old Dame gathered some bits of wood together and set them on fire, and then threw her stick into the fire, and said,

"Good fire, burn stick; stick will not beat dog; dog will not bite pig; pig will not get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night."

But the fire would not. So the old Dame fetched a pail of water that was standing near, and said,

"Good water, quench fire; fire will not burn stick; stick will not beat dog; dog will not bite pig; pig will not get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night."

But the water would not. So the old Dame turned round in a passion, and then she saw a great ox with two big horns coming along the field, so she said,

"Good ox, drink water; water will not quench fire; fire will not burn stick; stick will not beat dog; dog will not bite pig; pig will not get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night."

But the ox would not. So the old Dame turned round to the stile again, and then she saw a jolly butcher leaning on the stile; so she said to him,—

"Good butcher, kill ox; ox will not drink water; water will not quench fire; fire will not burn stick; stick will not beat dog; dog will not bite pig; pig will not get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night."

But the butcher would not. So the old Dame took a rope out of her pocket and said,—

"Good rope, hang butcher; butcher will not kill ox; ox will not drink water; water will not quench fire; fire will not burn stick; stick will not beat dog; dog will not bite pig; pig will not get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night."

But the rope would not. So the old Dame was in despair; but just then a large brown mouse ran across the meadow, and she said,—

"Good mouse, gnaw rope; rope will not hang butcher; butcher will not kill ox; ox will not drink water; water will not quench fire; fire will not burn stick; stick will not beat dog; dog will not bite pig; pig will not get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night."

"Yes," said the mouse, "I will, if you will give me some cheese."

So the old Dame put her hand in her pocket and brought out a nice piece of cheese, and gave it to the mouse; and when he had nibbled at it, then,

The mouse began to gnaw the rope;
The rope began to hang the butcher;
The butcher began to kill the ox;
The ox began to drink the water;
The water began to quench the fire;
The fire began to burn the stick ;
The stick began to beat the dog ;
The dog began to bite the pig ;

The pig he rushed right through the stile.

And so the old Dame got home that night in time to boil her dumplings.