"Oh, my child, come over here!" Mother Bunch hurried him over to a warm, sunny corner beside the kitchen steps, and began to dry him with her pink, rough tongue.
"But how did it happen?" she asked again. "Did you fall into a bucket?"
"I didn't fall into anything except the yard. It was some boys and they put water on me," and Jazbury told his mother the whole story.
Aunt Tabby sat by and listened gravely. "Well, Jazbury, it's really no more than I expected," said she. "It's just as I told you. If you won't wash yourself you'll get washed by some one else. And I must say you're looking cleaner than you've looked for many a day."
His mother said nothing. She thought Jazbury had been punished enough by the drenching without being lectured as well.
III
"Jazbury, I've found a fresh mouse-hole," said Aunt Tabby one day. "It's in the cupboard under the sink, and the cook has left the door open. Come with me and I'll show it to you. I have great hopes the mouse may come out before so very long, and if you sit there and watch, you may catch him."
"Aunt Tabby! Oh, I don't want to watch mouse-holes today," mewed Jazbury. "I told Fluffy I would come out and play with him. Mayn't I, Mother? I said I would, and I don't want to sit there in the cupboard and watch. Maybe the mouse wouldn't come out anyway, and Fluffy expects me."
"You always have some excuse, Jazbury," said his aunt, severely. "If you had your way you would never do anything but play. But as long as you have to learn to mouse some time, I don't see why today isn't as good a time to begin as any."
"Yes, Jazbury. Go with your aunt," said his mother. "And don't look sulky. I'm sure you ought to be very grateful to her for telling you about the hole."