"No!" said Master Meadow Mouse. "No! I was too busy, building my new home, to stop and bite her."
"Isn't he brave!" whispered Mrs. Moses Mouse to her husband.
From where they sat, on the top of the woodpile, Master Meadow Mouse and his callers caught sight of a dark shape that moved stealthily towards them through the shadows.
"It's Miss Snooper herself!" Mrs. Mouse cried. And quick as a wink she dived down among the sticks of wood, with her husband following close behind her.
"Probably Master Meadow Mouse will bite Miss Snooper's nose this time," she said to Moses, when she had reached a safe retreat.
"He isn't biting it now," Moses Mouse replied, "because he's crowding right behind me."
"Miss Snooper has come," Mrs. Mouse said to Master Meadow Mouse. "Maybe you didn't understand that it was she."
"Let her come!" Master Meadow Mouse squeaked.
"Isn't he brave!" Mrs. Moses Mouse murmured.
"I'll bite her nose if she sticks it into this crevice," Master Mouse declared.