For before he ever reached it there were three little mice in it. They were the very same mice Nibble had invited to that very same cornstalk tent on the night of his Storm Party. The lady mouse hopped up on that bait stick and—
“Blam!” Down came the soap box. But of course that didn’t bother the mice at all. They felt safer in the dark and it was warm and comfortable after the box shut the wind out.
Nibble came leaping up. “Are you hurt?” he called.
“No!” answered the mice all at once. “It’s perfectly lovely in here.” And the lady mouse added, “We’ve found the loveliest root I ever set tooth to. I think it must be some of that Water Chinquapin Doctor Muskrat gave you. Do come and help us eat it.”
So Nibble Rabbit’s busy little feet found a crack in the crust and made the snow fly. “Scritch-scratch!” went his claws.
“Hurry up!” called his mouse friends who were inside. “We’ve eaten up half of this lovely root already.” They were perfectly willing to give him his share—if he could only get in with them to eat it. And he was doing his very best.
“Crunch, crunch. Nibble, nibble, nibble,” went their busy teeth. They didn’t mean to be selfish, but a mouse is such a hungry little thing it just can’t wait for any one.
Now Tommy Peele had heard the “blam!” when his trap was sprung.
So he came hurrying back as fast as ever he could in his tall rubber boots. He was making all manner of noise, but nobody heard him. For Nibble already had his head under the trap. His sprawly legs were spread out to get a good grip on the snow, and even his puffy tail seemed trying to help him as he squirmed into it. And didn’t Tommy Peele laugh when he saw that! Who ever heard of anything so foolish as digging into a trap.
“Here,” said the Lady Mouse, remembering how she had eaten Nibble’s corn in the little cornstalk tent; “you’ll find the heart is the sweetest.” And soon the juice was dripping from Nibble’s busy little jaws.