"I think the white mouse ought to tell us one," said Jip.
"Very well," said the white mouse. "I will tell you one of the days of my youth. The Doctor knows this story, but the rest of you have never heard it."
And smoothing back his white whiskers and curling his pink tail about his small, body, he blinked his eyes twice and began:
"When I was born I was one of seven twins. But all my brothers and sisters were ordinary mouse color and I alone out of the whole family was white. My color worried my mother and father a great deal. They said I was so and would certainly, as soon as I left the nest, get caught by the first or cat that came along.
"We were city folk, my family were—and proud of it. We lived under the floor of a 's shop. Across the street from our place was a butcher's shop, and next door to us was a dyer's—where they dyed cloth different colors before it went to the tailor's to be made into suits.
"Now, when we children grew up big enough to go off for ourselves our parents gave us all sorts of careful instructions about escaping cats and ferrets and weasels and dogs. But over poor me they shook their heads. They really felt that there was not much hope of my leading a peaceful life with white fur that could be seen a mile off.
"Well, they were quite right. My color got me into trouble the first week that I set out to seek my fortune—but not in the way they thought it would. The son of the miller who owned the shop where we lived found me one morning in a of oats.
"'Ah, hah!' he cried. 'A white mouse! The very thing I've been wanting!'
"And he caught me in a fishing net and put me in a cage, to keep as a pet.
"I was very sad at first. But after a while I got sort of used to the life. The boy—he was only eight years old—treated me and fed me regularly each day. I grew almost fond of the funny, snub-nosed lad and became so tame that he would let me out of my cage sometimes and I would run up and down his sleeve. But I never got a chance to escape.
"After some months I began to grow weary of the silly life I was leading. And then, too, the wild mice were so mean to me. They used to come around at night and point at me through the wire of my cage, saying:
"'Look at the tame white mouse! Tee-hee-hee! A plaything for children! Good little mousey! Come and have 'ims facey washed!' The stupid little idiots!
"Well, finally I set to work and thought out a clever plan of escape. I a hole through the wooden floor of my cage and kept it covered with straw, so the boy couldn't see it. And one night when I heard him safely snoring—he always kept my cage at the head of his bed—I slipped out of the hole and got away.
"I had many adventures with cats. It was winter time and the snow lay thick upon the ground. I started off to explore the world, rejoicing in my liberty. Going around to the back of the house, I passed from the miller's yard into the dyer's yard, next door. In the yard was a dyeing shed and I noticed two sitting on the top of it in the moonlight.
"Entering the shed, I met a rat, very old and very thin. Said he to me:
"'I am the oldest rat in the town and I know a great deal. But, tell me, why do you come here into the dyeing shed?'
"'I was looking for food,' I said.
"The old rat laughed a cracked and quavering laugh, with no joy in it at all.
"'There's no food here,' he said, 'only dyes of different colors.' And he to the big dye , all in a row, that towered in the half darkness above our heads.
"'Any food there was here I've eaten,' he went on sadly, 'and I dare not go out for more because the owls are waiting on the roof. They'd see my dark body against the snow and I'd stand no chance of escape. I am nearly starved.' And he swayed weakly on his old feet. 'But now you've come, it's different. Some good fairy must have sent you to me. I've been sitting here for days and nights on end, hoping a white mouse might come along. With your white fur, you understand, the owls can't see you so well against the snow. That's what's called protective coloration. I know all about natural history—I'm very old, you see. That is why you managed to get in here without being caught. Go out now, for pity's sake, and bring me the first food of any kind that you can find. The owls by night and the cats by day have kept me shut in here since the snow came without a bite to eat. You are only just in time to save my life.'
"So off I went across the moonlit snow and the blinking owls on the roof of the dyeing shed never me. Against the whiteness I was nearly invisible. I felt quite proud. At last my white fur was coming in handy.
"I found a garbage can and, picking out some bacon rinds, I carried them back to the starving rat. The old fellow was ever so grateful. He ate and ate—my whiskers, how he ate! Finally he said:
"'Ah! Now I feel better.'
"'You know,' said I, 'I have only just escaped from . I was kept as a pet by a boy. So far being white has only been a great inconvenience to me. The cats could see me so well life wasn't worth living.'
"'Well, now, I'll tell you what we'll do,' said he, 'you come and live in this dyeing shed with me. It isn't a bad place—quite warm and under the floors, and the foundations are simply with holes and corridors and hiding places. And while the snow is here you can go out and get the food for both of us—because you can't be seen so well against the snow. And when the Winter is over and the earth is black again I will do the food hunting outside and you can do the staying at home. You see, this is a good place to live in in another way—there is nothing for rats and mice to destroy here, so people don't bother about you. Other places—like houses and food shops and mills—folks are always setting traps and sending ferrets after you. But no one minds rats living in a dyeing shed, see? Foolish young rats and mice go and live where there's lots of food. But not for me! I'm a wise one, I am.'
"Well, we agreed upon this arrangement and for a whole year I lived at the dyer's with the old wise rat. And we lived high—no mistake! Not a soul ever bothered us. In the winter days I did the and when Summer came my old partner, who knew where to get the choicest foods in town, kept our stocked with the daintiest . Ah, many's the jolly meal I've had under the floor of the dye shed with that old veteran, in whispers as we heard the dyers overhead mixing the dyes in the great big vats and talking over the news of the town!
"But none of us are ever content for long, you know—foolish creatures that we are. And by the time the second Summer was coming I was to be a free mouse, to roam the world and all that sort of thing. And then, too, I wanted to get married. Maybe the Spring was getting into my blood. So one night I said to the old rat:
"'Rat,' I said, 'I'm in love. All Winter, every night I went out to gather , I've been keeping company with a lady mouse—well-bred she is, with elegant manners. I've a mind to settle down and have a family of my own. Now, here comes the Summer again and I've got to stay shut up in this shed on account of my beastly color.'
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