"'When I returned to the city, I went to a merchant mouse of great reputation to seek employment. After some delay, I was shown into his counting-room (behind the fireplace of a lawyer's office), where I found him, as was to be expected, busily engaged at his desk. I told him I should like to be appointed one of his clerks, as I hoped to rise, like himself, to the rank of wealth and importance. He put his pen behind his ear,—it was the pin-feather of a bird,—and smiled rather grimly, as though he fancied a good many mice would enjoy growing as great as he had. The salary I should receive was very small, he told me, and I would have to work very hard for it; still I was not discouraged by all this, so the next morning I entered his store.
"'He was one of the most influential provision mice in the city, doing a large wholesale business with other cities, and the country as well. I belonged at first to the number of young clerks whose duty it was to go about the streets and houses with bags, like rag-pickers, to find odd scraps of bread, cheese, sugar, nuts, raisins, and starch, which we brought to the warehouse, where they were taken in charge by other clerks, who packed them to be carried away, or sold them in piles at a time.
"'It was terribly fatiguing, for we were expected to bring a full bag always by nightfall; but I determined to be industrious; so I persevered, although the time seemed so long before I was promoted to the rank of clerk in the receiving department. From this I have progressed slowly enough, yet I have gained much knowledge. Dear me! I could tell you where a crumb of cheese came from in the dark. Now I am the head of the house; for my employer has retired from business, leaving me in charge. I have also married his only daughter,' said the city mouse, with a proud air.
"'I am glad you have succeeded;' commented Grandpapa kindly; 'only be careful that prosperity does not make you arrogant, as it is apt to.
"'Now, my dear daughter;' he added, turning to the mouse who had arrived second on Christmas Eve, 'what have you been doing this long time?'
"'I went to visit my cousin, as you will doubtless remember. She is a great matchmaker, and perhaps you knew that when you sent me to her; for I was then quite mature in age, and did not inherit any of my mother's beauty, besides. Well, she found me plenty of suitors, and before long I married. I enjoyed life very much at first; but sorrows in plenty awaited me,' sighed the daughter, arranging her crape head-dress.
"'I had four beautiful children; and my pride in them was so great that I decided to take them to the mouse fair, where prizes were to be given to the handsomest babies. The mice were flocking from all quarters to this splendid exhibition, which was given in order to raise funds for an orphan asylum that was much needed in the region.
"'The place selected was under a rock on the margin of a wood. The tent was made of rags joined together; and at the entrance we all paid the admittance fee,—a kernel of corn, which was to go towards the fund. The collection within was very fine. There were a few grains of maize brought all the way from Egypt at immense expense. There was a portrait of one of our distinguished ancestors, painted in brickdust by a young mouse artist of great talent; there was a scrap of bacon sent from England; and there were two whole figs given to the fair by a wealthy mouse of high rank. There were also a number of articles to be sold by lottery; a work-box formed of a filbert hollowed out, and lined with moss, besides being fitted up with needles and scissors of fish-bone; a pony carriage made of a scallop shell upon spool wheels, the most luxurious thing to drive in I ever beheld; a candlestick of brown sugar, beautifully nibbled into filigree work by a blind mouse of large experience; and a blanket composed of a sheep's tail, embroidered with cat-whiskers.
"'These are a few of the things I remember, because I nearly ruined my husband by taking shares in them all; and I actually drew nothing, so all that money, or corn rather, was lost.
"'Behind the tables stood rows of young lady-mice, all dressed alike, with buttercup caps upon their heads, and wearing aprons, the pockets trimmed with gold thread. This gave them a very pretty appearance; and they sold much more among the gentlemen mice than they would have done, had they been more plainly dressed.