Mouser Cats Story | Page 5

crane thinks he has got a pretty tail, and I'm not
saying anything against it, for it is handsome; but this crane my
grandmother used to tell about, had the idea that he was the finest
looking bird who ever came out of an egg. He went around making a
good deal of such talk as that, and one day he met with a peacock for

the first time. Strangely enough, he had never heard about such a bird,
so he strutted back and forth as usual, and after they had talked a while
of the weather, and all that sort of thing, Mr. Crane said:
[Illustration: As Mr. Peacock spread his tail, Mr. Crane flew off in
disgust]
"'People tell me I am one of the handsomest birds that ever lived.
There's nothing in this world that quite comes up to my tail feathers,
and that much I can say without risk of being thought vain.'
"'You have some very pretty feathers,' Mr. Peacock said, keeping his
own tail folded up so it couldn't be seen very well. 'But do you really
think they are more beautiful than can be found on any other bird?'
"'I don't think so, I know it,' Mr. Crane said, spreading the long plumes
of his tail out so they would show to the best advantage, and just then
Mr. Peacock unfolded his tail to its full size.
"If you ever saw an astonished bird, it was Mr. Crane. He looked at the
beautiful feathers spread out like a great, big fan, and then started to fly
away.
"'Where are you going?' Mr. Peacock asked.
"And Mr. Crane answered, while he was in the air:
"'Off somewhere to hide until I have got sense enough to hold my
tongue when I don't know what I'm talking about.'
"Since that time I have never heard any of the cranes doing very much
bragging, and it is a pity that there are yet others around this place who
ought to get just such a lesson, for many of the animals here need it
sadly."
"You among the rest?" your Aunt Amy asked laughingly, and Mrs.
Mouser Cat replied:
"Thank goodness, I am not proud, and perhaps it is because I haven't
very much to take pride in. But I have lived long enough in this world
to know that one of us is of just about as much importance as another,
and the animal or the bird who thinks this world couldn't move very
well without him, is making a big mistake. There is nobody whose
place cannot be filled when it becomes necessary; there would even be
somebody to run this farm as well as Mr. Man does, if he should die
to-morrow."

MENAGERIE POETRY.

"What I have in mind is told, in a foolish kind of a way, I suppose, by
Mr. Crow, who wrote the verses when Mr. Man's little girl Dolly
wanted a pet, and no matter how much she thought of one, if it died, or
got lost, the next that came along suited her almost as well.
"Of course I don't want you to suppose I think this is anything but
nonsense; but at the same time it carries out the idea of what I have
been trying to say," and then Mrs. Mouser repeated the following:
I once possessed an Elephant Who fed on potted grouse; One day I lost
him, but I think He's somewhere in the house.
[Illustration: The Delicate Pet.]
I had a Hippopotamus Who really was quite slim; He caught a chill,
and so I thought I'd best get rid of him.
I also had a gay Giraffe, Whose antics made me wince; He went a walk
to Brooklyn town, I've never seen him since.
[Illustration: The Pet Who Went to Brooklyn.]
The Puffing Fish that I possessed Would fill my heart with pride; But
ah! one day I made a joke-- He laughed so that he died.
You should have seen my Polar Bear, He was a lively beast; But what
became of him at last I've no idea, the least.
[Illustration: The Very Sociable Pet.]
My Grizzly Bear was certainly By all my friends admired. He tried to
climb the Monument, And when he failed, expired.
Perhaps the dearest of them all Was James, my Cockatoo-- He took to
stopping out at nights; I gave him to the Zoo
[Illustration: The Lively Pet]
So now I haven't anything; It's lonely, I must own. I'll get a little calf, I
think-- I cannot live alone!
"I don't wonder you call that 'Menagerie Poetry,'" your Aunt Amy said
when Mrs. Mouser ceased speaking; "but I think I understood, even
without the aid of the verses, the moral you intended to draw."
"I should hope you did;