Life and Perambulations of a Mouse | Page 9

all crept, and were highly regaled
with some nice lumps of sugar. But it would be endless to enumerate
all the various repasts which we met with in this closet, sometimes
terrified by the entrance of people, and sometimes comfortably
enjoying ourselves without alarm: it is sufficient to inform you, that,
unmindful of our mother's advice, we continued to live upon the
contents of the same cupboard for above a week; when, one evening, as
we were as usual hastening to find our suppers, Softdown, who
happened to be first, ran eagerly to a piece of cheese, which he saw
hanging before him. 'Come along,' said he, 'here is some nice cheese, it
smells most delightfully good!' Just as he spoke these words, before
any of us came up to him, a little wooden door on a sudden dropped
down, and hid him and the cheese from our sight.
It is impossible to describe our consternation and surprise upon this
occasion, which was greatly increased when we advanced near the
place, at seeing him (through some little wire bars) confined in a small
box, without any visible way for him to get out, and hearing him in the
most moving accents beg us to assist him in procuring his liberty. We
all ran round and round his place of confinement several times; but not
the least crack or opening could we discover, except through the bars,
which being of iron, it was impossible for us to break or bend. At

length we determined to try to gnaw through the wood-work close at
the edge, which being already some little distance from one of the bars,
we hoped, by making the opening a little wider, he would escape:
accordingly we all began, he on the inside, and we all on the out, and
by our diligence had made some very considerable progress, when we
were interrupted by the entrance of Mrs. Nurse with the child in her
arms.
Upon the sight of her, though much grieved to leave our brother in his
distress, yet fearing instant death would be the fate of all of us if we
stayed, to preserve our own existence, we retired as quick as possible,
but not without her seeing some of us, for we heard her say to herself,
or to the babe in her arms, 'I declare, this closet swarms with mice, they
spoil everything one puts here.' Then taking up the box in which was
poor Softdown (and which I afterwards learned was called a trap) she
carried it intO the room. I crept softly after her, to see what would be
the fate of my beloved brother. But what words can express my horror,
when I saw her holding it in one hand close to the candle, whilst in the
other she held the child, singing to her with the utmost composure, and
bidding her to look at the mousy! mousy!
What were the actions or sensations of poor Softdown at that dreadful
moment I know not: but my own anguish, which it is impossible to
describe, was still augmented every moment by seeing her shake the
trap almost topsy-turvy, then blow through the trap at one end, at which
times I saw the dear creature's tail come out between the wires on the
contrary side, as he was striving, I suppose, to retreat from her. At
length, after she had thus tortured him for some time, she set the trap on
the table, so close to a large fire, that I am sure he must have been
much incommoded by the heat, and began to undress her child.
Then hearing somebody go by the door, she cried out, 'Who is there? is
it you, Betty? if it is, I wish you would come and take down the
mouse-trap, for I have caught a mouse.' Betty instantly obeyed her call,
and desired to know what she wanted. 'I want you to take down the
mouse-trap,' she replied, 'for I cannot leave the child. I am glad that I
have got it, I am sure, for the closet swarms so, there is no such thing as

bearing it. They devour everything: I declare they have eaten up a
whole pound of sugar, which cost me elevenpence, sugar is now so
monstrously dear! indeed the man made a favour to let me have it for
that; only, he said, as our family were good customers, and I was but a
servant, he would take no more. And enough too I thought it was, to
have only a penny back in change out of a whole shilling for one pound
of sugar: and then to think of the poison mice to have it all; but I will
break their filthy necks. Do, Betty, pray take the trap down,