The Terrible Cat
Nibbles spent the night in a cosy nest which he found in a hazel bush, and early the next morning he was off once more on his travels.
Towards noon, while he was picking acorns for dinner, whom should he see, running along the road, but his cousin, Teenie Weenie, the dearest little white mouse in the world?
“Hullo, Teenie Weenie!” called Nibbles. “Where did you come from?”
“Why, I live in a village not far from here,” replied Teenie Weenie. “And where are you going, Cousin Nibbles?”
“I am going to seek my fortune,” said Nibbles.
“Oh, do let me come, too,” begged Teenie.
“All right, come along,” answered Nibbles. “Two is company and one is none. Only don’t keep getting tired.”
“No, I certainly won’t,” promised Teenie. “But you must come and have supper at my house before we start.”
By the time they reached the village, it was dark, and the lights in the houses were beginning to shine. They crept cautiously down the street until they came to a pretty house in the middle of a large garden.
“That is where I live,” said Teenie Weenie, “but look out for the Cat.”
A brightly lighted window was open, around which grew a honeysuckle. Up the vine ran Teenie Weenie, closely followed by Nibbles, and, sitting on the windowsill, they looked into a beautiful room.
On a long table there were numbers of lighted candles in high silver candle-sticks, and never had Nibbles seen such wonderful things to eat,—nuts and raisins, figs and dates, oranges and grapes, cakes and candy.
In a moment, Teenie Weenie and Nibbles had run across the room and jumped up on the table. Nibbles tried first one thing and then another, each tasting better than the last.
Suddenly Teenie Weenie gave a little gasp of terror, which startled Nibbles so that he nearly fell into a finger-bowl.
“What is the matter, Teenie?” he asked, rather crossly, for in his fright he had dropped a particularly nice bit of cake on the floor.
“The Cat,” whispered Teenie Weenie, in a terrified voice.
Nibbles looked around, and suddenly he saw, in a chair close by, a big gray and white animal, which was evidently just waking up, and was stretching itself and yawning. Such terrible teeth and sharp claws as it had!
While Nibbles gazed at it, too frightened to move, the Cat turned around, and its green eyes glared as it saw the two trembling little mice.
Before the sleepy Cat could jump on the table however, Nibbles and Teenie Weenie were on the floor, and an instant later they were fairly tumbling out of the window into the garden. Down the village street they ran, and never stopped until they were safe in the open country once more.
“Well,” said Nibbles, “I have never seen a Cat before, and I sincerely hope that I never may again. You may live in a village if you like, Teenie Weenie, but I prefer the quiet woods.”
