Page:Christmas stories (IA christmasstories00faul).pdf/46

 good to eat, wherever it might be hidden. And the tiniest little mouse was named Squeaky, because he had such a squeaky, shrill little voice. He was constantly singing, “Ee-ee-ee.”

Now the mother-mouse was very wise, and she had taught her babies to scamper and hide whenever they saw the old cat tiptoeing about. The mother-mouse would say, “Beware of the cat!” and the little mice would run so quickly that although Mrs. Puss did not even mew or purr when she walked through the pantry, she never had been able to catch any one of the Velvet family. But many of their little cousins and other relatives had been caught by the old cat. So the little mice obeyed their mother and always hid when the cat was near.

The mother-mouse also warned her babies